TEDA Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology (formerly known as TEDA School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology) was established in 2003. The objective of the Institute is to combine the science and technology of Nankai University and the commercial competiveness of Tianjin Economic and Technology Development Area (TEDA) by attracting talents from domestic and international to develop cutting-edge research in microbiology. Taking an integrative approach of scientific research, technology development and talent cultivation, the Institute aims to establish a leading status in life science and become an influential academic institute in the world.
The Institute has established “Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology of Ministry of Education”, “Key Laboratory of Microbial Functional Genomics of Tianjin Government”, “Engineering and Research Center for Microbial Functional Genomics and Detection Technology of Ministry of Education”, and “Research Center for Functional Genomics and Biochip of Tianjin municipal Government”
The main research fields include mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis, pathogenic microorganisms and immunology, and functional genomics of microorganisms. At present, the Institute has obtained research funds from National Science and Technology Major Project of the 13th Five-Year Plan, National Key R&D Program, National Natural Science Foundation Major Project and International Cooperation Project. A state-of-the art, world-class research team has been established. Researches in evolution and epidemic pattern of important pathogenic bacteria and their pathogenicity mechanisms, and genetic formation mechanism of biodiversity have reached advanced international level. So far, the Institute has published research articles in Nature, PNAS, Nature Communications, Nucleic Acids Research, Plos Pathogens, Metabolic Engineering, Genome Biology, etc.
The Institute has closely collaborated with a number of international institutions, among them are Institute of organic chemistry of Russian Academy of Sciences, University of Sydney, Poland national Rhodes University, University of Canada German Institute of risk assessment, National Reference Laboratory of Escherichia coli and other international institutions, as well as domestic institutions such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, Yunnan University, Jiangnan University, Wuhan University, Guangxi University, Institute of biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Institute of infectious disease prevention and control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and prevention.
Advanced genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics platforms have been established. The Institute is equipped with PacBio sequencing system, Illumina/ Solexa, Confocal microscope, BD FACSAria III, Q Exactive, trace Diane two-dimensional liquid chromatography system, Dual-color Infrared Laser Scanning Imaging Instrument, BiacoreX100, genome analyzer, genome optical mapping system, LCQ, GCMS, MALDI-TOF-TOF,EP480, EP850server, etc, and an ABSL-II laboratory will be ready soon.
The Institute currently has 25 faculty members. Among them, there are 7 professors, 4 associate professors, 2 lecturers and 3 post doctors. Honored scholars are as follow: 1 member of the National Ten Thousand Talents Program, 2 recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholar, 2 members of Distinguished Professor of the Ministry of Education, 1 member of the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, 2 members of the Trans-Century Training Programme Foundation for the Talents by the Ministry of Education, 1 member of Tianjin Outstanding Talents Program and 1 recipient of Tianjin Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholar. Besides, the Institute has 9 experimental technicians and administrative staff.