April 18, 2026
From Long-Term Collaboration to a Joint Center: Entering a New Phase of Partnership
On April 18, the Max Planck–Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Synthetic Biochemistry (CSB) was officially inaugurated. The establishment of this joint center is the natural outcome of over eight years of continuously deepening collaboration between the two groups. Since 2016, we have worked on natural product biochemistry and functional studies. Since 2022, we have further advanced a more structured framework for long-term collaboration, jointly organizing academic symposia and training activities, including the workshop held in Berlin during the 50th anniversary celebration of cooperation between MPG and CAS (2024) and the CAS-MPG Summer School held in Shenzhen (2025). With the formal establishment of the CBS, this partnership has now evolved from sustained project-based collaboration into a more stable, open, and future-oriented institutional collaboration. Looking ahead, we hope to build on the Shenzhen Synthetic Biology Research Major Scientific Infrastructure to pursue deeper joint research in natural product discovery, pathway engineering, and the training of young scientists.
Also see the press release
MPI-TM: https://www.mpi-marburg.mpg.de/1587047/2026-04-cCAS: https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/news-updates/202604/t20260420_1157619.shtml
人民网：http://sz.people.com.cn/n2/2026/0418/c202846-41556342.html
央广网：https://sz.cnr.cn/jdt/20260419/t20260419_527591778.shtml
April 2, 2026
Congrats Siqiang | 思强, XIANG Hao | 向浩, and CHEN Ying | 陈瑛 on the manuscript being accepted at Curr. Opin. Microbiol. “Structurally known” and “structurally unknown” have long served as a binary classification of natural products. However, with the emergence of SynBio, the boundaries of this simple classification are being redrawn, because SynBio expands both what we can see and what we can build. To reflect this change, we propose a SynBio-centered framework that maps natural products along two axes, chemical novelty and engineering accessibility, yielding four quadrants: (i) known knowns, (ii) unknown knowns, (iii) known unknowns, and (iv) unknown unknowns. Thanks to Helge for his involvement in the conceptualization. This is the first paper from the Max Planck-Chinese Academy of Sciences for Synthetic Biochemistry (will be officially announced shortly).
February 27, 2026
Congrats CHEN Ying | 陈瑛, Yunsheng | 韵声, XIANG Hao | 向浩, Changqi | 昌启, Jiaqi | 佳琪 on the manuscript being accepted at Chem. Sci. This paper describes a new entry point for lipopeptide genome mining: anchoring on the cluster-encoded lipid formation modules with NRPS adjacent. This led to the discovery of dioxanopeptins, a new class of antibacterial lipopeptides with a 1,3-dioxane functionalized polyunsaturated lipid tail. They selectively inhibit MRSA by disrupting proton motive force homeostasis and ATP production. We are grateful to the collaborators for their input on computational calculation and NMR measurement.
November 16–22, 2025
Our group was pleased to contribute to the CAS–MPG Summer School and International Youth Forum in Shenzhen. We supported the event through planning and coordination, and took part in the scientific exchange throughout the week. It was a great pleasure to reconnect with former colleagues and friends.
October 13, 2025
We warmly welcome Zehai | 泽海 from Moscow University to the group as a Research Assistant.
August 7, 2025
We warmly welcome Yunsheng | 韵声 from China Agricultural University to the group as a postdoc.
August 7, 2025
We were pleased to welcome Prof. Kui ZHU | 朱奎 from China Agricultural University to iSynBio, SIAT, where he delivered an excellent talk on his systematic work in the discovery and design of antimicrobial molecules.
August 6, 2025
We were pleased to welcome Prof. Wen-Sui LO | 羅文穗 from Northwest A&F University to iSynBio, SIAT, where she delivered an excellent talk on her latest work in the gut bacteria of Pristionchus pacificus, a symbiotic nematode with beetles.
July 18, 2025
Congrats Zhenye | 镇业, Ziming | 梓铭, and ZAHNG Shu | 张姝 for being admitted to PhD programs at domestic and world renowned institutions. May you continue pushing the boundaries of knowledge and discovering your own path.
July 18, 2025
We warmly welcome Xuewen | 学文 from Yunnan University as a postdoc, and Changqi | 昌启 from South China Agricultural University as a Research Assistant, to the group!
June 11, 2025
We were pleased to welcome Dr. Lihan Zhang | 张骊駻特聘研究员 from Westlake University to iSynBio, SIAT, where he delivered an excellent talk on his latest work in PKS engineering and genome mining for structurally diverse natural products.
May 26, 2025
We warmly welcome Jiezhen | 洁桢 from Southern University of Science and Technology to the group as a joint Master’s student.
May 9, 2025
Our lab welcomed Dr. Aunchalee Thanwisai & Associate Prof. Apichat Vitta from Naresuan University, Thailand, who gave talks at iSynBio on entomopathogenic nematodes and their symbiotic bacteria for antibiotic discovery and biocontrol applications.
February 18, 2025
We warmly welcome Siqiang | 思强 from the South China Sea Institute Of Oceanology, CAS to the group as a postdoc.
January 8, 2025
We warmly welcome Weihong | 尉宏 from Shenzhen University to the group as a joint Master’s student.
December 30, 2024
We warmly welcome CHEN Ying | 陈瑛 from Sun Yat-Sen University to the group as a joint PhD student.
December 3, 2024
We warmly welcome Junling | 竣凌 from Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology to the group as a postdoc.
September 16, 2024
Congrats XIA Zhao | 夏召 and XIANG Hao | 向浩 on the invited review article being accepted at ChemMedChem. This article highlights the membrane-embedded secondary metabolites, aiming to inspire the development of antibiotics specific to pathogenic bacteria without harming human cells.
September 9, 2024
Congrats the team on the invited review article being accepted at Nat. Prod. Rep. This article covers the microbial natural products mediating organismic interactions (humans, insects, nematodes, plants, protozoa, and marine animals) in various niches, which inspires the discovery of drug candidates.
August 30, 2024
We warmly welcome Jiaqi | 佳琪 from Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences to the group as a postdoc.
July 23, 2024
We warmly welcome Zhiying | 智莹 to return to the group after completing her studies in Beijing.
July 17, 2024
We warmly welcome Zhiwu | 志武 from Fuzhou University to the lab as a Research Assistant.
July 8, 2024
We warmly welcome ZHANG Shu | 张姝 from the Institute of Microbiology, CAS to the lab as a Research Assistant.
June 21, 2024
We congrat XIANG Hao | 向浩 on becoming a Ph.D. student at the UCAS.
April 19, 2024
We warmly welcome Ruijia | 芮嘉 from Kansas State University to the lab as a postdoc.
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