The Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology (hereinafter referred to as "the Institute") is one of the "Top Ten Basic Research Institutions" approved for construction by the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government in November 2018, and is led by the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Institute of Synthetic Biology aims to become a world-class research institution for synthetic biology, produce globally influential scientific research achievements and incubate world-leading synthetic biology companies. It conducts research on the fundamental principles, enabling technologies and applications of synthetic biology, and is committed to leading the rapid development of life sciences and the take-off of the biomanufacturing industry in China. After five years of construction, the Institute of Synthetic Biology has achieved remarkable results in stimulating the new quality productivity of synthetic biotechnology and exploring and implementing the entire process of the innovation ecosystem. With the "dual support" of top-notch talents and scientific heavyweights, significant scientific research achievements have been accumulated and are about to burst forth. The Institute of Synthetic Biology has established a globally significant team of synthetic biology talents, with a staff size of nearly 1,200. It is a cutting-edge and innovative high-level talent team with an international perspective and core competitiveness, young and dynamic, and multi-disciplinary integration. The world's largest major scientific and technological infrastructure for synthetic biology research, led by the Institute of Synthetic Biology (with an equipment investment scale of 722.2 million yuan), will establish a globally leading intelligent life system design and manufacturing platform and a life science research and development platform of international standards and leading role. With the dual support of top-notch talents and scientific equipment, the Institute of Synthesis has reached the international advanced level in cutting-edge directions such as the synthesis and evolution of biological functional molecules, the principles of gene circuit design, and the synthesis of natural products. Discovering a stable evolutionary strategy for the spatial fixed expansion of microbiota (Nature), constructing the most comprehensive human immune Cell development map (Cell, one of the top ten scientific and technological progress news in China in 2023), revealing a new early evolutionary model for the transformation of tumors from polyclonal to monoclonal (Nature) Pioneering a new pathway for synthesizing glucose and fatty acids from carbon dioxide (Nature Catalysis, one of the top ten Scientific and technological progress news in China in 2022), revealing the determinants of bacterial size, and deriving a brand-new "individual growth and division equation" (Nature Microbiology) A series of major scientific research achievements such as the discovery that the non-equilibrium response of gene expression to growth rate can reshape the landscape of cell fate determination (Nature Chemical Biology) have emerged frequently. A total of more than 130 series articles in CNS and sub-journals have been published in five years (15 in regular issues). Basic research and industrial development are advancing in a mutually reinforcing manner, with national platforms promoting both research and production advancing in parallel. Facing the cutting-edge of global science and technology, the Institute of Synthetic Biology took the lead in establishing the Key Laboratory of Quantitative Synthetic Biology (Chinese Academy of Sciences), led the first strategic science and technology pilot project in Shenzhen and the first in the field of synthetic biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (with an approved amount of 95.7216 million yuan), and led the National Natural Science Foundation of China's "Basic Science Center" Class B project. Focus on solving the world-class scientific and technological problems in the artificial synthesis of single-cell life, carry out organized basic research, and seize the commanding heights of life science and technology. Adhering to the concept of "creating for knowledge and application", we have systematically laid out disciplinary directions, taken the lead in undertaking over 30 special projects of the National Key Research and Development Program in "Synthetic Biology", formed a national major task research group, and further consolidated Shenzhen's leading position in the field of synthetic biology in China. Relying on the major scientific and technological infrastructure for synthetic biology research, the Institute of Synthetic Biology took the lead in establishing the Asian Alliance for Synthetic Cells and led 25 research institutions from 6 countries to jointly sign the "Memorandum of International Cooperation on Synthetic Cells". And in 2024, it initiated the International Conference on Synthetic Cells, took the lead in establishing the International Alliance of Synthetic Cells, and firmly stood at the core node of the global synthetic biology field. In response to the major demands of the country, we took the lead in establishing the National Bio-manufacturing Industry Innovation Center (with a total investment of 966.66 million yuan, the only national-level innovation center in the bio-manufacturing field in China), to accumulate momentum for the high-quality development of China's bio-manufacturing industry. The "Upstairs and downstairs innovation and entrepreneurship complex" model, which is the first of its kind in China, has been included in the list of Shenzhen's innovative experiences promoted by the National Development and Reform Commission for nationwide promotion. The Institute of Synthetic Biology has incubated 12 enterprises with a valuation of over 10 billion yuan, attracted 58 enterprises to settle down, recognized 11 national high-tech enterprises, and raised a total of 4.13 billion yuan with a valuation of 26.23 billion yuan. In the past three years, 40% of the newly added synthetic biology enterprises in China have settled in Shenzhen. The Institute of Synthetic Biology is committed to stimulating the new impetus and advantages of new quality and productivity in synthetic biology technology. With Shenzhen as the core, it aims to promote the high-quality development of China's bio-manufacturing industry and build the world's most concentrated and largest synthetic biology future industrial cluster. The Institute of Synthetic Biology (referred to as "the Institute") was established in December 2017. Since its establishment, the institute has gathered over 1,200 young backbone and leading scientists in the field of synthetic biology both at home and abroad, forming a cutting-edge innovative team with multi-disciplinary integration. Adhering to the concept of "creation leads to knowledge and application", the Institute of Synthetic Biology has established a new research paradigm of "Quantitative synthetic Biology" and systematically laid out seven disciplinary directions. At the basic research level, the Institute of Synthetic Biology focuses on the understanding of artificial life systems, conducting fundamental theoretical research on quantitative analysis and rational design of life systems. It has proactively laid out four major directions: synthetic biological evolution, cell and gene circuit design, synthetic genomics, and synthetic microbiomics, aiming to seize the commanding heights of international synthetic biology frontier science and technology. At the level of applied basic research, the institute, based on domestic and international trends as well as the local characteristics of Shenzhen, focuses on laying out three major directions: materials synthetic biology, synthetic biochemistry, and synthetic immunology, and is committed to breaking through key technologies and promoting the application of research results. Centering on the above seven major directions, the Institute of Synthetic Biology has simultaneously established seven research centers, working in synergy to build a globally influential research and development base and industrial innovation highland for synthetic biology.