(Yicai) April 15 -- Shanghai has unveiled the Shanghai Synthetic Biology Innovation Center to promote scientific and technological exchange and cooperation in the industry.

The center, inaugurated yesterday, aims to boost the scientific and technological innovation and development of the synthetic biology industry in Shanghai and create a world-leading industry cluster.

The center is a private nonprofit institution jointly established by Chinese science and technology organizations and leading synthetic biology technology innovation partners, The Paper reported, citing Jin Qinxian, chairman of the center's strategic development committee.

It will cooperate extensively with domestic and foreign scientific research institutions, nonprofit organizations, and industry leaders, Jin, who is also director of the Beijing Tsinghua Industrial Research and Development Institute, said. It will also carry out talent networking, technical cooperation, proof of concept, and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in the synthetic biology sector, Jin added.

The center will be dedicated to building three industrial platforms for life sciences, high-value molecules, and mass chemicals, according to Jin. It will replace the chemical industry, which relies on coal and oil, with biosynthetic methods and try to accelerate and improve the success rate of innovation to industrial application transformation, Jin noted.

Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary subject that includes biology, genomics, engineering, and informatics. It is the third biotech revolution after the discovery of double-stranded DNA and the human genome project.

The global synthetic biology market surged to over USD17 billion last year from USD5.3 billion in 2018 and may grow to nearly USD50 billion in 2028, according to the center.

Editor: Martin Kadiev