Industrial application will take time

Our reporter Yang Xiaojing

Food security is an important foundation for national security.

Indistinguishable from natural starch

Starch is the most important ingredient in wheat, corn, rice and other grains, and it is also an important industrial raw material

Currently, starch is mainly produced by crops such as corn by fixing carbon dioxide through natural photosynthesis

Since 2015, with the support of the key deployment project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Tianjin Municipal Financial Special Project, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biology has established a project to carry out research on carbon dioxide synthesis of starch

In this regard, Cai Tao explained that according to the current technical parameters, under the condition of sufficient energy supply, the theoretical annual starch yield of a 1 cubic meter bioreactor is equivalent to the starch yield of corn planted on 5 acres of land (according to China's corn starch production).

The Chinese Academy of Sciences research team designed the reaction chain from scratch, using only 11 steps, and continuously excavating and transforming 62 biological enzyme catalysts from 31 different species such as animals, plants, microorganisms, etc.

Industry experts say food production accounts for about 40 percent of the world's arable land and generates 25 percent of greenhouse gases

"Even replacing a part of grain starch as an industrial raw material or even feed is a huge contribution to relieving agricultural pressure

The research results have also been recognized and highly appraised by Chinese and foreign peer experts

In the view of Chen Jian, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the research results combine chemical and biological methods, and use a series of new technologies such as protein engineering and synthetic biology to directly synthesize starch from carbon dioxide, completely subverting the traditional method of starch production

Practical application has a long way to go

In response to what netizens jokingly said that "the northwest wind can be drunk in the future", Zhou Qi, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the "breakthrough" only showed the principle, and there are still too many practical difficulties to be overcome in order to really carry out industrial production

In this regard, Cai Tao also bluntly stated that industrial application faces great challenges

"Whether any technology can be applied on a large scale, it is not only technically feasible, but also cost-competitive and socially acceptable,

　　It is understood that, approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biology is currently leading the construction of the National Synthetic Biotechnology Innovation Center

　　"China Food News" (04 edition on October 6, 2021)

(Editor in charge: Gao Na)