Recently, ZENO, a biotechnology startup focusing on developing high value-added natural products by using synthetic biology and fermentation engineering technology, announced that it had completed an angel round financing of more than 10 million yuan.

ZENO uses metabolic pathway design combined with a new generation of gene-editing technology to carry out genetic engineering directional transformation of chassis microorganisms such as Escherichia coli and yeast and has built a high-throughput screening platform to select industrial stable and high-yield strains through large-scale iterative screening, and carry out industrial amplification in combination with downstream fermentation, separation, and other processes, so as to finally realize low-cost and high-efficiency large-scale commercial production. At present, a number of product pipelines under research by ZENO are about to achieve mass production, and the annual production capacity is expected to reach more than 10 tons.

ZENO was founded in 2021. After two years of technical research, the company's first product 2 '- fucosyllactose has been able to achieve high-yield fermentation production under the condition of 1000 liter fermentor, and various physical and chemical indexes have reached the EU standard. It is expected to become the first Chinese enterprise to realize large-scale commercial mass production of breast milk oligosaccharides. 2 '- fucosyllactose is the highest content component of human milk oligosaccharides. Human milk oligosaccharide is an important substance in human colostrum, with a content of 6-15 g/L. It plays an important role in the construction of infant intestinal flora, immunity, and cognitive ability. Therefore, it is used in infant formula additives in European and American countries. In addition, studies in recent years have shown that breast milk oligosaccharides are also helpful for adult health, so they can also be used in nutritionally fortified foods, special medical foods, and other fields.