Topics will include synthetic biology, stem cells and sustainable manufacturing. The UK research councils, the UK technology board and MOST will invest 3 million poinds on sustainable manufacturing. 4 million pounds will be invested by the UK Research Council and the National Natural Science Foundation of China on stem cell research involving leading British scientists.Another 250.000 pounds within 3 – 4 years will be invested from the UK Research Council and CAS to support leading researchers in synthetic biology. In one project, investigators at the University of Nottingham will collaborate with partners at the Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology at the Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, as well as industrial partners, to design tools and strategies for producing bacteria for use in making low-carbon fuels and chemicals from industrial waste gas. Another investigator at the Shanghai Institute will partner with University College London researchers to use synthetic biology and metagenomics approaches to develop new enzymes and build pathways for breaking down biomass.
In another project, collaborators at the University of Manchester and the CAS Institute of Microbiology will use synthetic biology approaches to produce high-value fine chemicals. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh will work with the CAS Institute of Biophysics to investigate how lipid droplets might be used as synthetic biology tools, test bacterial enzymes for their ability to degrade plant materials, and examine certain ethical, legal, and social implications of synthetic biology. Partners at the University of Warwick and the CAS Institute of Microbiology will seek to develop approaches for identifying and diversifying novel antibiotics.

China Bio news, October 16, 2013