The 4th Synthetic Biology Innovation Competition successfully concluded at Shenzhen University of Technology from August 6-9. Hosted by the Chinese Society of Biotechnology and co-organized by multiple leading institutions including Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology and the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, CAS, the event embodied its core philosophy of "Creating Knowledge, Creating for Application."

This year's competition attracted remarkable participation, with over 265 university teams and nearly 1,900 young talents worldwide. The finals brought together nearly 1,000 participants from six countries, including Japan, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China and accumulated over 11 million online engagements across platforms.

The competition featured seven specialized tracks:
White Track: Biochemical Engineering
Green Track: Agriculture & Environment
Red Track: Biomedicine
Bacterial Game: Bacterial Gladiator
Protein Design: Machine learning for protein optimization
Synthetic Cell Race: Synthetic Cell
Responsible Innovation: Ethics, safety and sustainability

Each track addressed critical challenges in healthcare, industrial upgrading, and green development, empowering youth to contribute to global sustainability. The event leveraged Shenzhen's major research infrastructure in synthetic biology to advance the integration of education, technology, and talent development.

The top honor was awarded to ZJU China from Zhejiang University, who developed a highly sensitive biosensing system for water pollution monitoring. Their innovation combines synthetic biology with smart equipment, enabling real-time pollutant detection and treatment through transcription factor sensors and light-controlled protein systems.

A significant milestone was announced at the closing ceremony: the establishment of an "Enterprise Expert Database" to facilitate industry-academia collaboration. This initiative will introduce a new "Industry-Proposed Challenges" track in future competitions, creating direct pathways for students to address real-world industrial needs.

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