Tianjin Team Makes Breakthrough in Synthetic Yeast Project

Led by Tianjin University (TJU) Professor Ying-Jin Yuan, TJU’s synthetic biology team has completed the complete synthesis of redesigned yeast chromosomes synV and synX with the two studies published in Science (Science 355, eaaf4706 (2017); Science 355, eaaf4704 (2017))on March 10, 2017.

The publications are part of the effort to chemically synthesize the designer yeast genome (Sc 2.0), in collaboration with NYU and John Hopkins in the US, Tsinghua University, BGI-Shenzhen in China, the University of Edinburgh in the UK, and the Institut Pasteur and Sorbonne Universités in France, as well as industry partners.

TJU is keen to integrate frontier science into student training. During the synthesis of the designer chromosome SynV, the "Build-A-Genome (BAG) China" course played a crucial role. In this innovative educational course, 61 students participated in the construction of building blocks and minichunks for synthetic chromosome V, although the majority of the students had little or no experience in DNA synthesis before. Through the BAG training, they advanced experimental skills, and obtained first-hand experiences that are essential for promoting their trouble-shooting abilities. Several students became specialists in DNA synthesis and constructed DNA segments with significant complicated sequences. A selection of them went on to continue their education in the synthetic biology field by undertaking PhD programs in China, the US, Europe, and other countries.

"The goal of the BAG course at TJU is to train the next generation of synthetic biologists with a global perspective, innovative spirit, and practical abilities," said Yuan. This goal was reached during the process of the Sc2.0 project, linking the course to practical scientific work. The first authors of the synV and synX articles, PhD candidates from Yuan’s team, Zexiong Xie and Yi Wu, were participants in the BAG course. As a combination of the international science community and the educational system, BAG provided an elegant model to inspire the next generation of scientists towards future research on synthetic biology.