After six years of grinding a sword to produce starch, it is finally possible not only to rely on plants

Is it possible to make starch without relying on plants? There is a play! On September 24, "Science" published online the major breakthrough achievements made by Chinese researchers in the artificial synthesis of starch

In order to fully present the "past and present" of this research and tell the story of the researchers willing to sit on the bench and concentrate on scientific research, the reporter of Science and Technology Daily interviewed the corresponding author of the paper and the director of the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ma Yanhe and Cai Tao, the first author of the paper and associate researcher of Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Seize the commanding heights of technology strategy that is related to the long-term and overall situation

Science and Technology Daily reporter: The process of natural photosynthesis to synthesize starch is very complicated, and it is more difficult to synthesize starch artificially

Ma Yanhe: Food security is an important foundation for national security.

Is it possible to "change lanes and overtake"? In fact, this idea has been around for a long time.

Synthetic biology is considered a disruptive technology affecting the future

We science and technology workers must have a strong sense of national mission and face the country's major strategic needs.

Science and Technology Daily reporter: Is the study of artificially synthesizing starch from carbon dioxide being carried out by scientists from all over the world? Can you tell us about the competitive situation in this field?

Cai Tao: Getting rid of plants for carbon dioxide fixation has been the dream of scientists for many years.

In the past few years, there have been no fewer than ten related papers published in "Cell", "Nature" and "Science", mainly focusing on research directions such as carbon dioxide fixation and artificial photosynthesis

Have doubted the design route but never thought of giving up

Science and Technology Daily reporter: When was the first successful synthesis of starch? How do you feel when you see "Starch Blue" for the first time? What work has been done in the follow-up?

Cai Tao: The first successful synthesis of starch was on July 24, 2018

After determining the artificial synthesis of carbon-compounds into starch, we can actually submit articles, but we still pay more attention to practicability and set out to improve the synthesis efficiency of artificial starch, and the synthesis efficiency will be improved in the next two years.

Science and Technology Daily reporter: What major breakthroughs have you made in the research process of the "Artificial Synthesis from Carbon Dioxide to Starch" project?

Cai Tao: The mechanism of plant synthesis of starch is very complicated, but from a chemical point of view, it is a process of reduction, condensation, rearrangement, and polymerization

We started by redesigning the natural metabolic pathway, firstly solving the general problem of misfit in pathway calculation design, crossing the gap from virtual to reality, and condensing the complex synthesis process of natural starch to only 11 main reactions;

Secondly, it breaks through the bottleneck that is difficult to match between biological enzymes of different sources and different genetic backgrounds, crosses the gap of natural slow evolution, and surpasses the evolutionary effect of biological metabolic pathways for hundreds of millions of years.

Finally, the "artificial synthesis from carbon dioxide to starch" overcomes the obstacles of chemical and biological synergistic catalysis, realizes the use of high-density electric hydrogen energy to synthesize starch molecules, and bridges the gap of energy transfer in biochemical reactions.

Science and Technology Daily reporter: In the process of project research, what is the biggest problem you encountered? Did you ever think about giving up?

Cai Tao: In the research process, the biggest problem we encountered was how to make enzyme elements from different sources work together effectively according to the designed path.

Especially when constructing the artificial synthetic route 1.

When version 1.
0 is successfully built, we are very confident that synthetic starch is feasible
.
However, when the project was carried out for two and a half years, we once doubted this design route, but never thought of giving up the work of artificial starch
.

Carry forward the spirit of scientists and innovate scientific research management mode

Science and Technology Daily reporter: In the process of project implementation, in order to make researchers sit on the bench and devote themselves to scientific and technological research, what innovations have the institute made in the scientific and technological management model?

Ma Yanhe: The workshop manufacturing of starch is a sign that we propose to promote the "industrialization of agriculture" with biotechnology
.
When the project began to design six years ago, no one was sure.
We were also prepared for a long-term struggle.
Project support from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tianjin City gave us opportunities for pre-research.
In an environment, it is really difficult to organize a team to concentrate on research and not ask about the future
.

The institute actively explores the innovation of scientific research management mode, and established a project-based overall research department.
The project team implements a budget system, and the resources are guaranteed by the institute.
There is no need to apply for competitive funds.
The power of the group
.
The assessment of the project team is simple, objective, and lenient.
It does not care about the output of the paper, and does not care about the momentary success or failure.
The performance pay of the team members is generally higher than that of the same scientific and technical personnel
.

In particular, we have been promoting the spirit of scientists, fostering the feelings of family and country, and our leaders have taken the lead in setting an example of indifferent fame and fortune, selfless dedication, and made the Long March spirit of "the officers and soldiers unanimous, and the revolutionary ideals above the sky" as the culture of the institute.
Gradually, a group of outstanding young scientists who have a sense of family and country, have the courage to innovate, and are willing to sit on the bench, calm down and devote themselves to tackling problems with the spirit of sharpening their swords for ten years
.

Science and Technology Daily reporter: This research work is considered to be an original breakthrough in the field of basic research "from 0 to 1".
In your opinion, what impact will this research have? what sense?

Ma Yanhe: This research is not a free-exploring basic research, but a demand-oriented, problem-oriented, and goal-oriented basic research.
The development of multidisciplinary research is a new paradigm for life science research
.
This research designed and assembled a starch synthesis metabolic pathway that does not exist in nature, and its work efficiency is significantly higher than that of natural biological processes.
It solves the science of biological functions from virtual to reality, artificial biological evolution, biochemical reaction energy transfer, etc.
The problem embodies the concept of learning from nature, imitating nature, and transcending nature, and has important scientific significance and application value
.

Synthetic biotechnology coupled with chemical catalysis technology has established a new technological route for biotransformation with high energy density and high carbon dioxide concentration.
Although there are still many technological challenges from the laboratory to the industrial application, it has bred huge new opportunities for industrial transformation
.
It will have a major impact on the development of green and low-carbon industries such as food, materials, chemicals, etc.
, and establish a new starting point for an innovative track
.
In the future, if the artificial synthesis technology of carbon dioxide to starch is economically feasible, the production of starch in industrial workshops will be realized.
Compared with agricultural planting, it can save more than 90% of land and fresh water resources, and eliminate the negative impact of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on the environment.
It is bound to bring about a new industrial transformation, which is of great strategic significance for ensuring food security and promoting sustainable and high-quality development of social economy
.