On December 9, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (TIB, CAS) and Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie-Flanders Institute of Biotechnology (VIB) hosted the signing ceremony for the TIB-VIB Joint Center of Synthetic Biology (TV-SynBio) via on-line. TIB leaders including the Director-General Prof. MA Yanhe, three Deputy Director-Generals, Prof. XING Xuerong, Prof. SUN Jibin, and Prof. WANG Qinhong, related scientists and administrative officials, and VIB’s Managing Director Dr. Jo Bury, Strategic Advisor Prof. Boerge Diderichsen and related scientist attended.

During the ceremony, Prof. MA Yanhe and Dr. Jo Bury on behalf of the both sides signed on the agreement, unveiled the nameplate for the joint center, and then issued appointment certificates for the co-directors, Prof. JIANG Huifeng from TIB, and Prof. Kevin Verstrepen, VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology who will take charge of daily operations and management of the TV-SynBio. Meanwhile, the participates watched the publicity video of the National Technology Innovation Center of Synthetic Biology (NC SynBio).

The NC SynBio, co-built by CAS and Tianjin Government, was officially approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) of China on November 8, 2019, as the third National Technology Innovation Center in China while the only in biotechnology, with TIB as the host Institute. The core mission of the NC SynBio is to build a bridge from synthetic biology R&D to synthetic biology industry, and thus to promote the industrialization of major research achievements of synthetic biology. To achieve this goal, the NC SynBio is working with leading international organizations to establish international Joint Centers, to build a global R&D network for collaborative innovation in the field of synthetic biology, to promote in-depth industry-university-research cooperation, thus to promote the innovative development of synthetic biology and bioeconomy together.

The TV-SynBio, as one of the International Joint Centers of the NC SynBio, is targeted to provide an exchange and collaboration platform to promote joint R&D, staff exchange, information & resources sharing, technology transfer and industrialization between the both sides in the area of synthetic biology. VIB is a world leading research institute in the life sciences, has strong advantages and basis in the research of synthetic biology, also strong ability in tech transfer. TIB is the only whole institute in China working on synthetic biology for industrial biomanufacturing. The formal establishment of the TV-SynBio will not only link TIB and VIB more closely but also play an important role in promoting the S&T innovation and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in the field of Synthetic biology both for China and Belgium.

For the first phase of collaboration, the main joint R&D research areas are “Yeast synthetic biology and biotechnology” and “Biosynthesis of plant natural products”. After the signing ceremony, a workshop on Yeast Synthetic Biology was held to discuss the detailed collaboration.

The Cooperation Agreement on TV-SynBio was signed (Image by TIB)

Prof. Yanhe Ma and Dr. Jo Bury unveiled for the joint center (Image by TIB)

Appointment Certificates for the co-directors were issued (Image by TIB)

Group Photo (Image by TIB)

 TIB-VIB Workshop on Yeast Synthetic Biology (Image by TIB)