Ma Shijin became a leader in the field of biology.
As a college student trained by rural families in the 1990s, Ma Shijin, the chairman and president of Qingke Biotechnology Co., Ltd., kept innovating and starting businesses in the field of synthetic biology, and pursued greater benefits to feed his family. In the past 20 years, he has changed the supply and marketing mode of raw materials in the field of DNA synthesis, overcome technical difficulties, and independently developed raw materials and DNA synthesizers. After joining Qingke Biotechnology Co., Ltd., he promoted the formation of the only domestic platform with synthetic instruments, raw materials and gene synthesis technology, relying on branches and subsidiaries all over the country to develop "blood transfusion" for life science research institutes and biomedical research and development enterprises, and became a veritable leader in the industry.
First venture
Reduce the price of synthetic primers by one time.
It was a bit accidental for Ma Shijin to enter the field of biology. After being admitted to Fujian Normal University, bioengineering became his major under the adjustment of the school. "No matter what major I study, as long as I set a long-term goal, I will definitely achieve it." Ma Shijin said that he grew up in the countryside, and his family paid a lot to cultivate him. If the goal is set, it is to earn more money and feed back the family. Although the goal is not so "great", it mobilized him to work harder than his classmates and laid a solid foundation in his major.
At a class reunion two years after graduation, Ma Shijin decided to start a business. At that time, some students engaged in scientific research, some students ran to the market, and he himself mastered all the technologies of DNA synthesis. The entrepreneurial team composed of several students had both raw material procurement channels, synthesis technologies and market channels. For asset-light strategy, Ma Shijin’s entrepreneurial team set up a company in Beijing, and cooperated with a scientific research institution to produce primers by using the "3900" synthesizer of this scientific research institution. At that time, the price of synthetic primers in the market was higher than that in 6 yuan. Ma Shijin’s entrepreneurial team reduced the price to 3 yuan, which won a broad market space for a time. In just two months, it set up offices in more than 30 cities across the country to sell the company’s products.
Continue to exert strength
Independent development of synthesizer and raw materials
Less than a year after Ma Shijin started his business, the SARS epidemic broke out in China, and the research and development of vaccines against SARS required gene synthesis. Their low-priced and high-quality primers were introduced into major scientific research institutions and enterprises, making contributions to the fight against SARS. Two years after starting a business, a competitive company merged and reorganized with the support of a large amount of funds, which further lowered the price of synthetic primers and squeezed the market space. Ma Shijin’s entrepreneurial team had to declare the end of the business.
While summing up the first entrepreneurial experience, Ma Shijin was greatly touched by the domestic gene synthesis technology at that time. "A company failed to complete the synthesis of 10K gene chain in three years." He said that this also spurred him to continue to study synthesis technology in depth.
"DNA synthesis includes three pieces: instruments, reagents and raw materials (carriers). At that time, most domestic industrial enterprises were introduced from abroad at high prices." Ma Shijin recalled that independent development and domestic supply were a direction worthy of deep cultivation, and he began to devote himself to the development of DNA synthesizers and raw materials. After years of research and development, the raw material carrier has been made into a "glass bead" shape, which enhances the uniformity and improves the efficiency of DNA synthesis for customers, and is widely welcomed by the domestic market.
When providing technical services for scientific research institutes and enterprises, Ma Shijin jumped out of the inherent thinking of scientific research technicians, constantly absorbed market experience, and actively changed various suggestions made by customers, winning recognition and reputation in the industry. At the end of 2008, a DNA synthesis enterprise in Nanjing, which occupies 50% of the domestic market, also took the initiative to cooperate with Ma Shijin to introduce its synthesizer and raw materials. In the process of cooperation and exchange with this enterprise, Ma Shijin also enriched the knowledge reserve of quality management and enterprise management.
Join qingke
Enterprises should be listed in five years.
When researching and supplying DNA synthesizers and raw materials, Ma Shijin had a lot in common with Yang Tao, the head of Qingke Biotechnology Co., Ltd. at that time. In 2011, two like-minded people joined hands to form the only synthetic biotechnology service company with both instruments, raw materials and gene synthesis technology in Qingke Bio. Facing synthetic biology, one of the basic pillar disciplines and industries known as the future world, we are committed to strengthening the technical services of DNA synthesis and gene synthesis, creating a brand of Qingke biology, and providing technical support for the development of synthetic biology industry in China.
"Mastering the core technology is always the fundamental guarantee for doing a good job in technical services." Ma Shijin said that after several international suppliers of raw materials for DNA synthesis were merged by one enterprise, they felt the pressure. In the past two years, they made great efforts to overcome key technologies, and the raw materials produced by Qingke Bio reached the same quality level abroad. However, the pace of technology research and development is still fast. On the basis of intelligent intermediate operation of the synthesizer, the production line equipment will be connected in series to form an intelligent production line, which will improve production efficiency and quality.
Starting from the end of 2017, Qingke Bio began to integrate various subsidiaries and branches to establish a main company. After investigation in many places, it is decided to set up the headquarters of the main company in the Economic Development Zone, relying on the talents, industrial resources, environment and policies here to promote the development of enterprises.
In the first half of this year, the headquarters of Qingke Biological Company was formally established in the Economic Development Zone. Ma Shijin said that the development of synthetic biology industry is still in the primary stage, and there are many market opportunities. Qingke Biology is preparing for the future market. At present, we are jointly applying for national key R&D projects with scientific research institutes. In completing major national scientific and technological projects, we will train our team to improve our R&D capabilities. At the same time, we are also planning to go public within five years, starting with scientific research and capital, and promoting the high-quality development of enterprises through hematopoiesis and blood transfusion.
Media Center reporter Tian Yanjun
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