The core of next-generation biomanufacturing: the deep integration of synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, and automation technology
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- Nov 5,2025
Summary
In the next decade, biomanufacturing will reshape the global industrial landscape and become a key pillar of national competitiveness.
As a technology that utilizes living organisms or their components for product synthesis, biomanufacturing is transitioning from traditional fermentation processes to the next generation model of multi technology integration.
The core of the next generation of biomanufacturing lies in the deep integration of synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, and automation technologies, achieving a transition from "biological processing" to "biological creation".
It is predicted that by 2050, biomanufacturing is expected to create an economic value of $30 trillion, accounting for one-third of the global manufacturing industry.
Why is the next generation of biomanufacturing related to national competitiveness? The global manufacturing industry is at a critical juncture of green transformation and intelligent upgrading, and biomanufacturing, as a green driven manufacturing model, has been elevated to a strategic level by many countries.
Industrial biotechnology is driving a new round of transformation in the manufacturing industry, and the resulting biomanufacturing itself is a new quality productivity with green driving characteristics.
From the perspective of international competition, major developed countries have accelerated their layout. The United States has invested a huge amount of funds through the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Program.
The EU has also listed biomanufacturing as a key pillar of the "European industrial renaissance" and is vying for ownership of future manufacturing. For China, developing the next generation of biomanufacturing has triple strategic significance:
One is to ensure the security of the industrial chain and reduce dependence on fossil materials through independent and controllable biological routes.
The second is to achieve green transformation, and the bio manufacturing pathway can reduce carbon emissions by more than 60% compared to traditional chemical methods.
The third is to cultivate new growth engines. The total scale of China's biomanufacturing industry has reached nearly one trillion yuan, and fermentation capacity accounts for more than 70% of the world's total.
The core driving force behind the next generation of biomanufacturing
The substitution of non grain raw materials for traditional biomanufacturing relies on grain raw materials such as corn and glucose, which raises ethical and cost issues of "competing with humans for food".
The next generation of biomanufacturing is accelerating its transformation towards non grain raw materials, utilizing methanol CO2、 One carbon compounds such as lignocellulose and agricultural waste. The deep integration of AI and automation is empowering the "design build test learn" cycle of biomanufacturing, greatly improving research and development efficiency.
The AI assisted enzyme screening and modification, metabolic pathway analysis, and other research and development processes have significantly improved the efficiency of multiple product development.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has also selected and released 16 typical application cases of artificial intelligence in the field of biomanufacturing.
The engineering platform breaks through the core bottleneck of next-generation biomanufacturing, shifting from "laboratory research and development" to "large-scale production", and the pilot platform and engineering capabilities have become the focus of competition.
To overcome this bottleneck, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission have jointly deployed the cultivation of a biomanufacturing pilot capacity building platform.
By 2027, we aim to cultivate more than 20 pilot platforms to pave the way for industrial scale.
3 Competitive advantages of Chinese biomanufacturing
The policy support system will be improved, and the 2025 government work report will officially propose biomanufacturing as the future industry for the first time.
Subsequently, relevant policies were intensively introduced, with more than 10 provinces and cities/development zones issuing special policies for synthetic biomanufacturing or biomanufacturing.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that it will strengthen policy supply and do a good job in the top-level design of biomanufacturing.
Preliminary formation of industrial clusters
China has formed a pattern of bio manufacturing industry with Beijing Tianjin Hebei Yangtze River Delta Guangdong Hong Kong Macao as the main body and differentiated development in multiple regions.
In the past year, the total investment and financing in the field of biomanufacturing was about 28 billion yuan, with the pharmaceutical and health sectors attracting more than half of the funds.
At the beginning of 2025, nearly a hundred domestic and foreign enterprises have completed new financing.
Encouraged by policies, relevant listed companies actively participate in the establishment of industry funds.
4 Obstacles to overcome in moving towards the next generation of biomanufacturing
The insufficient conversion ability of pilot testing is a key link in the transformation of biotechnology innovation achievements into industrial production, but it is still the main bottleneck for industrial development at present.
According to statistics, the lag in the construction of pilot platforms has led to 40% of laboratory results being difficult to industrialize.
The market penetration rate of innovative products in the field of biomanufacturing is less than 15%, and policies need to further strengthen support for application scenarios.
The key technology has shortcomings in the upstream tool layer, and the synthesis of long-chain DNA is difficult. The accuracy and efficiency of gene editing need to be improved.
There are high technical barriers in the design and modification of genes and metabolic networks in the construction of microbial cell factories.
The accumulation of biological resources such as chassis cells and genetic elements is particularly crucial.
The slow commercialization process and the ability to scale up from the laboratory to the factory are the key factors determining the success or failure of a business.
Some technology-based companies may never be able to leave the laboratory.
The investment cycle of biomanufacturing projects is long, the risk is high, and the commercialization process is relatively slow.
More patient capital and long-term financial support are needed.
In the next decade, with the comprehensive integration of synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, and automation technologies, biomanufacturing will not only reshape traditional industries, but also give birth to new industrial and value chains, providing strong impetus for the sustainable development of the global economy.
