As the "second genome" and "eighth organ", the imbalance of the human intestinal microbiome is closely related to the occurrence and development of many diseases such as human digestion, metabolism, and tumors. Targeted regulation of gut microbiota and metabolites has become an innovative diagnosis and treatment strategy for major human diseases and chronic diseases. In response to the country's major strategic layout in the field of cutting-edge biotechnology and to promote the source innovation and clinical transformation of intestinal disease diagnosis and treatment technologies, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine took the lead and jointly applied for the National Key R&D Program "Frontier Biotechnology" with Tsinghua University, Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and TreatGut Medicine.
(Professor Hong Jie, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine)On July 3, 2025, the project launch meeting was held grandly at Renji Hospital. Attending this meeting are: ShanghaiSecond-level chief staff member of the Life Science and Technology Department of the Municipal Science and Technology CommissionSun Zhenjie, Director Zuo Xiaolei of the Scientific Research Department of Renji Hospital, and the project guidance expert group Academician Zhao Guoping (Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Professor Fang Jingyuan (Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine), Professor Liao Zhuan (Changhai Hospital Affiliated to the Second Military Medical University), Professor Liu Shuangjiang (Shandong University), Professor Yang Yi (East China University of Science and Technology University), Researcher Liu Hongwei (Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Professor Wang Guihua (Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Professor Li Min (Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine), Professor Zhou Hongwei (Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University), Professor Huang Chengjun (Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences) and other experts and scholars.
(A group photo of all participants at the project launch meeting）
The total project funding is 36.4 million yuan, of which 15 million yuan is allocated by the central government. TreatGut Pharmaceutical Group and Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology provide self-raised funds of 20 million yuan and 1.4 million yuan respectively, providing a solid financial guarantee for the smooth development of the project. The project focuses on typical intestinal diseases such as ulcerative colitis and colorectal cancer, and conducts research on the following five aspects: 1) Dynamic characteristics of bacterial flora and metabolome in people with intestinal diseases (Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, China-Japan Friendship Hospital), 2) Research on key active substances and mechanisms of gut microbiota regulating tissue and organ homeostasis (Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Sciences Microbiology Research Institute), 3) Research and development of biomarker detection sensors for intestinal diseases (Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Tianfu Jincheng Laboratory), 4) Development of ingestible capsule systems for intelligent diagnosis and treatment of intestinal diseases (Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Shanghai University, Shanxi Bethune Hospital), 5) Research and development and clinical research of new intestinal microbial drugs (Shanghai TreatGut Biology Technology Co., Ltd., Xiamen University, China Institute of Food and Drug Control), analyze the interaction mechanism between intestinal microorganisms-metabolites and diseases, develop innovative diagnostic tools and therapeutic drugs with international competitiveness, and provide cutting-edge scientific and technological support to improve the prevention and treatment of intestinal diseases in my country!
All the talented people have arrived to participate in the grand event
The project launch meeting attracted experts and scholars from top scientific research institutes, medical institutions and enterprises across the country. The meeting was hosted by the project leader, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine,Deputy Director of Shanghai Institute of Digestive DiseasesProfessor Hong Jie presided over the opening ceremony, and invited Academician Zhao Guoping to serve as the leader of the expert group and preside over the project report and expert discussion.
(Project Steering Expert Group)
At the beginning of the meeting, Zuo Xiaolei, Director of the Scientific Research Office of Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, delivered a speech on behalf of the hospital, expressing his full support for the project team and his firm confidence in the project's future output of leading results.
(Director Zuo Xiaolei, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine)
Subsequently, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine,Director of Shanghai Institute of Digestive DiseasesProfessor Fang Jingyuan delivered a speech, emphasizing the importance of the project in the national biomedical innovation layout and placing high hopes on the smooth implementation of the project.
(Professor Fang Jingyuan, Director of Shanghai Institute of Digestive Diseases)
Project starts, plan refined
After a brief break and a group photo, the meeting entered the core link - reporting and demonstration of project and topic implementation plans. Professor Hong Jie, the project leader and the person in charge of the first topic, first reported the overall implementation plan of the project, systematically elaborated on the core goals, research content, technical routes and innovation points of the project, and outlined a grand blueprint for innovating the diagnosis and treatment technology of intestinal diseases by targeting gut microbiota and metabolites.
(Professor Hong Jie, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine)
The leader of the second project, Professor Zhu Keke of Tsinghua University, reported on the project implementation plan, focusing on the study of key active substances and mechanisms of action of gut microbiota in regulating tissue and organ homeostasis.
(Professor Zhu Keke, Tsinghua University)
Researcher Xie Sijia, the leader of the third project and PI of the Medical Chip Research Institute of Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, reported on the project implementation plan, focusing on the development of intestinal disease biomarker detection sensors.
(Researcher Xie Sijia, Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine)
The person in charge of the fourth project, Professor Xie Daxing from Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, reported on the project implementation plan. The core task is to complete the development of an ingestible capsule system for intelligent diagnosis and treatment of intestinal diseases.
(Professor Xie Daxing, Huazhong University of Science and Technology)
Dr. Xiao Chuanxing, the person in charge of Project 5 and Chairman of TreatGut Pharmaceutical Group, reported in detail the implementation plan for the development and clinical research of new intestinal microbial drugs, clarifying the research goals, technical paths and expected results, demonstrating the R&D strength and transformation determination of TreatGut Pharmaceutical Group as the leader of the project.
(Dr. Xiao Chuanxing, Chairman of TreatGut Pharmaceutical Group)
Experts take the pulse and seek common development
After the project and topic reports, the meeting entered the expert discussion and suggestions session. Led by Academician Zhao Guoping and including Professor Fang Jingyuan, Professor Liao Zhuan, Professor Liu Shuangjiang, Professor Yang Yi, Researcher Liu Hongwei, Professor Wang Guihua, Professor Li Min, Professor Zhou Hongwei, Researcher Huang Chengjun, etc., members of the strong guidance expert group and research team conducted in-depth and detailed comments and discussions on the project and the implementation plan of each topic.
Experts highly affirmed the innovative value and significance of the project, believing that the design of each topic is closely related to the cutting-edge and has clear goals. Experts put forward many valuable suggestions and constructive opinions on research focus, optimization of technical routes, cross-topic collaboration mechanism, clinical translation and application, etc. In his concluding speech, the leader of the expert group, Academician Zhao Guoping, particularly emphasized the key role of collaborative innovation between industry, academia and research, and raised high expectations for the project team, requiring the team to be brave in exploration and strive to achieve original breakthroughs with international influence in the field of intestinal microbiome and metabolite research, which will ultimately benefit the majority of patients.Moving towards the future, innovation can be expected
The successful convening of this kick-off meeting sounded a loud clarion call for the national key research and development plan "Innovative Diagnosis and Treatment Technology for Intestinal Diseases Targeting Intestinal Microorganisms and Metabolites". The project team will fully absorb the insights of the expert group, further improve the implementation plan, gather the wisdom and strength of all parties, and make every effort to promote the efficient implementation of the project. The research and development results of the project will significantly enhance my country's original innovation capabilities in the field of intestinal diseases, promote the innovative development of microecological drugs, diagnosis, treatment and other medical-related industries, and contribute scientific and technological innovation to the construction of a healthy China!
TreatGut Pharmaceutical Group, founded in 2016, is a national high-tech enterprise that provides overall solutions for Precision Microbiota Transplantation. The company integrates R&D, intelligent manufacturing, sales and service, focusing on human microecological transplantation. Its business fields span microecological health, microecological diagnosis, microecological treatment, microecological drugs, and microecological medical big data mining. After several years of development, the company has become a leader in the industry. The group is headquartered in Shanghai and has four business divisions: TreatGut Biology Division, TreatGut Health Division, TreatGut Medical Division, and TreatGut Intelligent Pharmaceuticals Division. In 2022, the company began to implement group management, with R&D bases in Shanghai, Xiamen, and Singapore, and subsidiaries in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hefei, Qingdao, Xiamen, Yichun, Suzhou, Shijiazhuang, Ningde, Shenyang, Qingdao, and Hefei.
TreatGut Pharmaceutical Group is the only company in the field of microbiota transplantation in China that has obtained the human genetic resources registration license from the Ministry of Science and Technology. It is also the only company approved by "CNAS" and has seven complete certificates. It has built six world-leading core technology platforms: Precision Microbiota Transplantation treatment platform, gut microbiota industrial extraction platform, microbial preparation medical device technology platform, clinical microbial detection technology platform, microecological medical big data cloud platform, and microbial drug screening and development platform. Based on the core technology of "Precision Microbiota Transplantation", it provides five major solutions and builds a business system with bacterial libraries as the core; it has strong layout in seven major areas of the microecological industry: including TreatGut Biology technology, TreatGut Intelligent Pharmaceuticals, TreatGut Medical Testing, TreatGut Health, TreatGut Medical, TreatGut Intelligent Manufacturing, and the micro-ecological future hospital to create a complete closed-loop micro-ecological medical system and build an intensive solution-oriented enterprise for the entire micro-ecological industry chain. Currently, it has provided professional services to more than 300+ medical institutions, with more than 300,000 microbiota transplantation and gut microbiota testing performed.
