As green, sustainable, and environmentally friendly material processing processes using biological cells or enzymes to achieve substance conversion, bioprocesses play an increasingly important role in biomanufacturing. It is difficult to optimize bioprocesses because of the complex relationship at multiple levels and multiple scales. The knowledge of mesoscale behaviors is the key to understanding the dynamics of bioprocesses and to sort out the complex relationships of parameter variations in the spatial-temporal domain. Mesoscale numerical simulation paves a way for understanding these phenomena, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and mesoscale simulation offers new vitality into the optimization of bioprocesses. This article reviews the progress in mesoscale simulation and AI optimization of bioprocesses and discusses the possible development directions, aiming to promote the development of this field.
Artificial Intelligence ; Biotechnology/trends* ; Computer Simulation

Cordycepin as the main active ingredient of Cordyceps militaris, a traditional medicinal fungus in China, has many physiological functions such as anti-cancer, anti-tumor and anti-virus activity. The most potential route for effective cordycepin production has been considered as liquid fermentation of C. militaris though with low productivity at present. Thus, it is urgent to apply both process engineering strategy and metabolic engineering strategy to enhance the productivity of cordycepin. In this review, the effects of medium components (i.e. the carbon/nitrogen source, precursor substances and metal ions) and operation factors (i.e. pH, dissolved oxygen and light) on cordycepin biosynthesis in liquid fermentation system are summarized. Besides, separation of cordycepin, the gene cluster involved and predicted biosynthesis pathways of cordycepin are also discussed, providing possible solutions of finally realizing efficient production of cordycepin.
Biotechnology ; trends ; China ; Cordyceps ; Deoxyadenosines ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Fermentation ; Metabolic Engineering ; trends

With the development of various biotechnology,the research on molecular genetics of medicinal plants has gradually deepened. In this paper,the research system of molecular genetics of medicinal plants was proposed for the first time,which was elaborated from the aspects of genetic resources,genome,gene function and research methods. The application fields of medicinal plant mainly contain species identification,molecular breeding and biosynthesis. The research directions of molecular genetics of medicinal plants in genetic resources,model platform,synthetic biology and molecular breeding were put forward,which include 1 000 genome projects of medicinal plants,model species and mutant libraries,gene original libraries of heterologous synthetic systems,construction gene original library and specific chassis cells in heterologous synthesis system of active ingredient,breeding of new varieties of medicinal plants with high active ingredient and high resistance based on molecular markers andtransgenes.
Biotechnology ; Gene Library ; Genetic Markers ; Genome, Plant ; Molecular Biology ; trends ; Plant Breeding ; Plants, Medicinal ; genetics ; Research ; Transgenes

Microalgae is a single-cell organism with the characteristics of high light energy utilization rate, fast growth rate, high-value bioactive components and high energy material content. Therefore, microalgae has broad application prospects in food, feed, bioenergy, carbon sequestration, wastewater treatment and other fields. In this article, the microalgae biotechnology development in recent years were fully consulted, through analysis from the literature and patent. The progress of microalgal biotechnology at home and abroad is compared and discussed. Furthermore, the project layout, important achievements and development bottlenecks of microalgae biotechnology in our country were also summarized. At last, future development directions of microalgae biotechnology were discussed.
Bibliometrics ; Biofuels ; Biomass ; Biotechnology ; trends ; Microalgae ; metabolism ; Waste Water

Taxol is a kind of isoprenoid with strong anticancer activity. It is difficult to be obtained because of its low concentration in nature, which hinders its application in cancer treatment. Recently, biosynthesis methods for taxol production have attracted more attentions. Several systems including Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Physcomitrella patens, Arabidopsis, tomato and ginseng were explored. This review focuses on the advance in biosynthesis of taxol in different systems and features the bottleneck of scale fermentation for producing the intermediates. At the same time some advices for the further were given. At last, the future and character of Physcomitrella patens system used in taxol combinatorial biosynthesis were analyzed based on our lab's research.
Biotechnology ; trends ; Bryopsida ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Genetic Engineering ; Paclitaxel ; biosynthesis

Synthetic biology has developed quickly worldwide. In this special issue, we reviewed its recent progresses in technologies and applications, these are: markerless knockout of chromosome genes in Streptomycetes spp. and in gene synthesis technology, in microbial genome reduction and modification, as well as genome minimization method based on metabolic network analysis and combinatorial optimization of synthetic biological systems. We also discussed photosynthetic cyanobacterial chassis, development in molecular genetic manipulation of solventogenic clostridiax. Protein budget: cost estimating criteria for synthetic biology, was also brought out for our attentions. On the application sites, some successful applications of synthetic biology were demonstrated, including design and construction of artificial biological systems for complex natural products biosynthesis, engineering the Saccharomyces cerevisiae for sclareol production, and engineering the xylose metabolic pathway for microbial production of bio-based chemicals.
Biotechnology ; trends ; Genetic Engineering ; Industrial Microbiology ; methods ; Metabolic Networks and Pathways ; genetics ; Synthetic Biology ; trends

Lactic acid has a wide range of uses in the chemical, pharmaceutical and food industry. With rapid development of poly (lactic acid) industry, the demand for polymer-grade L-lactic acid is continuously increasing. Developing low-cost, non-food-biomass-lactic-acid fermentation process and the fermentation-separation coupled technology are trends to reduce polymer-grade L-lactic acid production cost. This review summarized the most recent advances in low-cost L-lactic acid fermentation based on the use of non-food biomass, followed by addressing the key issue that might be strategically important for future development of polymer-grade L-lactic acid production in industry.
Biomass ; Biotechnology ; trends ; Cellulose ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Insulin ; metabolism ; Lactic Acid ; metabolism ; Manihot ; metabolism ; Polymers ; metabolism

China consumes and exports traditional Chinese medicinal resources the most in the world. However, we cannot anchor our hope on field production of traditional Chinese medicinal materials and their active ingredients, due to limited land resources. Therefore, the development of biotechnology is of great importance for China to solve the problem of traditional Chinese medicinal resources. Plant cell culture is an important approach for the sustainable development of precious medicinal resources. This essary summarizes the optimization of conditions for medicinal plant cell culture, the regulation of secondary metabolic pathways and cell bioreactor culture, and realizes that the authentic commercial production of more medicinal plants requires efforts from all aspects.
Bioreactors ; Biotechnology ; methods ; trends ; Cell Culture Techniques ; instrumentation ; methods ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; metabolism ; Plants, Medicinal ; cytology ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Research ; trends

Industrial biotechnology, which employs microorganisms or enzymes to produce industrial useful products, has been considered as a promising solution for the sustainable development of society and economy. This special issue collects some recent research progresses on industrial biotechnology in China, including research articles in the field of genetic engineering, metabolic engineering and synthetic biology, physiological engineering, fermentation engineering and biochemical engineering, biocatalysis and biotransformation, as well as new biotechniques and methods.
Biotechnology ; trends ; Genetic Engineering ; trends ; Industrial Microbiology ; trends ; Metabolic Engineering ; trends ; Synthetic Biology

More and more attentions have been being paid to seeking alternatives for fossil fuels. Bioenergy, as a renewable energy, is one of the best solutions. Bioenergy has been developed rapidly in China, which became the third largest producer and consumer of fuel ethanol. In order to promote the research of bioenergy technology in China, this special issue includes latest reports and articles on the fields of bioethanol, biodiesel, microbial lipid and biofuel system analysis.
Bioelectric Energy Sources ; trends ; Biofuels ; Biotechnology ; trends ; Conservation of Energy Resources ; methods ; Ethanol ; metabolism