Focusing on industrial innovation and exploration, the finals of the 2026 Biomanufacturing Competition will be held in Tianjin

China News Service, Beijing, November 13 (Reporter Liu Liang) The reporter learned from the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Promotion Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on the 13th that the finals of the 2026 Biomanufacturing Competition will be held in Wuqing District, Tianjin from November 18 to 19. After the preliminary selection and the semi-finals in Shanghai and Beijing, 54 projects in each of the two major tracks of cutting-edge technology and applied innovation have advanced, and 108 projects will jointly present innovative exploration in the field of biomanufacturing.

Competition in biomanufacturing first occurs in changes in production methods. Whether the same product can use strains more suitable for industrial production, a more efficient catalytic process, or raw materials from a wider range of sources will directly affect its cost and supply capacity.

Judging from the announced finalists of the cutting-edge technology track, gene editing and cell factory construction are expanding the options for production systems. Relevant projects involve plant chassis modification, microalgae biosynthesis, insect cell expression, etc., and explore the use of different biological systems to produce target substances. Its industrial significance is to match production methods according to product characteristics and find new manufacturing paths for recombinant proteins, natural active substances and other products.

Enzyme engineering further advances innovation into specific reaction processes. Projects for the finals include the design of enzyme catalysts for drug synthesis, green manufacturing of pharmaceutical intermediates, in vitro multi-enzyme synthesis of rare sugars, and enzymatic regeneration of waste PET plastics.

The involvement of artificial intelligence is no longer limited to single molecule design. The intelligent design of industrial strains, protein sequence generation, integration of dry and wet experiments, multi-agent R&D platforms and biological process sensing projects on the list cover design, experiment and process management.

In the field of functional raw materials, the final promotion projects involve human milk oligosaccharides, natural pigments, functional oils, antioxidants, coenzyme Q10 and high-value flavonoids, etc., meeting the product development needs of food, nutrition, daily chemicals and other fields.

The development of bio-based materials can better reflect the distance between technical space and commercial implementation. Capacity growth expectations are not equivalent to realized market sales, and material innovation must ultimately be driven by application demand. The exploration of bioplastics, bio-based polyester, microbial cellulose materials, etc. in the final promotion projects.

The other end of product innovation is the equipment and tools that support R&D and production. The high-throughput DNA synthesis platform, multi-modal sensing equipment, intelligent decision-making software, and cell-free protein expression-related technologies among the finalists' projects reflect the industry's demand for basic capabilities.

This competition is jointly organized by the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Promotion Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and relevant local industry and information technology departments. The competition provides technical teams, industrial chain enterprises and investment institutions with a window to learn about innovative projects. (over)