Numerous plant secondary metabolites naturally have anti-tumor, anti-virus, anti-bacterial, anti-parasite, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-aging, etc. How to efficiently produce and extract these products from plants in high efficiency, rapidity, and in large quantities has been the direction of research and development that is focused on by scientific researchers or practicing enterprises. At present, the production and extraction of active ingredients from plants is limited by the plant growth cycle, secondary metabolite content, pests and climatic conditions, resulting in slow and low production and extraction efficiency, high production costs, extraction process is not environmentally friendly, and secondary pollution of the environment. With the continuous development and progress of society, it is particularly important to obtain effective secondary metabolites contained in plants in a sustainable, green and clean, efficient and low-cost way.

As early as the 1950s, two scientists in the United States applied for a patent for large-scale cultivation of plant cells. It was not until 1985 that a Japanese company was the first to utilize mass culture of plant cells to produce comfreyin, which was released to the market at a price of $4,500 per kilogram. This use of cells to produce useful substances, scientists call it "plant cell factory". And predicted that the future "plant cell factory" will be industrialized, this new production technology, will bring huge economic and social benefits.

In Chongqing, southwest China, there is a company that has taken the lead in the industrialization of "plant cell factories" and successfully landed on the ground. It is the main character of this interview - Acelbio (Chongqing) Biotechnology Co.

Acelbio (Chongqing) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is a plant cell factory to produce high-value plant cells and their extracted products of professional suppliers, plant cell scale culture platform technology leader and one of the leaders of plant cell agriculture. It has a complete set of platform technology system with independent intellectual property rights and international leading plant cell scale cultivation and high yield of useful functional ingredients, which has realized two difficult technical breakthroughs in industrial mass production of plant cells and high yield of useful functional ingredients.

Recently, related media interviewed professor Zhang, the founder of Acelbio, who gave us a systematic overview of the origins of Acelbio, its business fields and development plans, and especially introduced in detail the company's continuous innovation and product development in the process research and development of "plant cell factories".

Ten years of dedication to sharpen the sword, breakthroughs in the key technology of plant cell industrialization

Professor Zhang, the Chief Technical Expert and founder of Acelbio, is an internationally renowned expert in the fields of plant cell cultivation and marine bioproduct engineering. He is an academician of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) and the founding director of the Marine Bioproducts Development Center at Flinders University. Professor Zhang has pioneered the "New Technologies of Integrated Metabolic Regulation in Biosynthesis and Post-biosynthesis" and "Low Shear Force Bioreactor Technology" globally. He has spearheaded a new era in the large-scale cultivation and cost-effective production of small molecule drugs and traditional Chinese medicine active ingredients, as well as the efficacious components for nutritional supplements, health products, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals using plant cells.

In 1994, professor Zhang completed his studies at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), obtained the first Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from the institute, and stayed at DICP. One year later, Wei Zhang, who aspired to a broader ocean of knowledge, traveled to the University of Tokyo in Japan and the University of Adelaide in Australia to continue to pursue higher fields of academic exploration. In 2003, Wei Zhang, who served as director of the Plant Cell Biotechnology Laboratory at the National Joint Center for Biologics in Australia, created the first patent in the "Acelbio" technology system. The first patent in the technology system.

Compared with microbial and animal cell culture, plant cell culture is more difficult to scale up. The difference between plant cell culture and the two is mainly focused on two aspects: First, compared with other cells, plant cells have extremely high water content, which can reach more than 95%. Assuming that 20 pounds of plant cells can use the dry weight of up to 1 pound, a lot of the weight is water; Second, in fact, is also related to the structure of plant cells, plant cells with high water content is because of the unique plant cells in the vesicles, this a special organelle. Vesicles, a cellular organelle, very fragile, very intolerant of external forces. In the tank culture system, mechanical agitation is required to ensure the supply of nutrients and oxygen to the cultured cells, which can easily cause damage, rupture and death of the plant cells at this time.

Acelbio's main business is the production and supply of plant cell raw materials and functionally active extracts. According to professor Zhang, "Acelbio has been able to industrialize and scale up culture production for mainstream plant cell species." Although Acelbio has the capability to establish targeted cell seeds and culture scale-up for all specific plant cell species, Acelbio insists on market-oriented development of its product lines. Acelbio's product line focuses on plant cells with high economic value, such as Ginseng, LEONTOPODIUM ALPINUM and SAUSSUREAE INVOLUCRATAE. At present, Acelbio has a complete range of 34 types of sterile seedlings and 67 cell production lines. The patented bioreactors are available in 1L, 5L to 1,000L modular scale-up systems, which allow for any scale of scale-up and flexible production of target cells according to market demand.

Involving some of the key plant cell products, the delivery cycle is always a key consideration for corporate clients. According to Jian Li, CEO of Acelbio, "Acelbio's delivery cycle can be roughly divided into three categories. The first category, up to 200 liters of enlarged cell line, Acelbio can guarantee that in 2 months time, the completion of the cell industry line delivery; the second category, in the Acelbio plant cell resource library, the storage of cells, can guarantee that in 8-12 months time, the completion of 200 liters of enlarged plant cell industry line delivery; the third category, is the corporate customers need Acelbio to develop a new plant cell industry line from 0, such an industry line to extend the delivery time, the delivery time is always a key consideration for corporate customers. The delivery time of such an industrial line is to be extended to 18-24 months to be able to complete the delivery of a 200-liter enlarged plant cell industrial line."

Bio-economy is a global trend, Acelbio wants to do the second innovation of botanical drugs

"Not only our country, but the overall global situation shows that bio-economy is a big trend." professor Zhang replied with such certainty about the future of bioeconomy, "The policy direction of the country is very correct and strongly supports the development of bioeconomy. But some specific areas, the practitioners are relatively few, the main reason is that both the bottom of the basic scientific research knowledge, or high-tech cutting-edge talent reserves, is still in a relatively weak position."

Opportunities always come with challenges. In the field of plant cell industry, the country has an opportunity, which is the internationalization and modernization of traditional Chinese medicine, including herbal medicine. Herbal medicine produced through plant cell factories consists of cellular medicinal materials rather than traditional plant leaves or roots. The active ingredient content in these cellular medicinal materials is higher than that in traditional herbal medicine, resulting in better effects when used.

The old saying "medicine is three parts poison" often holds true, but with cell factories, medicinal cells can selectively remove or reduce some toxic substances present in medicinal herbs. By amplifying effective ingredients and reducing or removing ineffective or toxic components, cell-based medicines can effectively address issues such as slow efficacy and safety concerns associated with traditional Chinese medicine. "In the future, Acelbio will launch the 'Plant Cell Materia Medica Project'. We will cultivate over 3,000 species of medicinal plants recorded in the Chinese materia medica, completing the industrialization of plant cell medicinal materials and pharmaceutical products," explained professor Zhang.

Recently, Acelbio has completed a new round of financing. The financing will be mainly used in 3 places. Firstly, to complete the construction of plant cell industrialization research institute in Chongqing to improve the innovation ability of the enterprise; secondly, Acelbio has cooperated with many research institutes to improve the construction of manual to automated industrial line, to improve the production efficiency and reduce the cost; lastly, to apply for the qualification of raw materials of new food and new cosmetic for a batch of plant cell industrial line which can be mass produced. The completion of the above capacity building will further improve the enterprise's marketing and commercialization service capacity, and inject new momentum into the development of food, health care, skin care and pharmaceutical markets.