The Fourth International Meeting on Synthetic Biology (SB4.0) was held in Hong Kong from October 10 to 12. The last three conferences were held in Boston, San Francisco and Zurich. The Hong Kong conference is the largest one to date, and reflects the growing interest in the field of synthetic biology research in Asia.

Jointly organized by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of California, San Francisco, California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), BioBricks Foundation and other renowned institutions, SB4.0 brings together researchers who are working on new tools that make biology easy to engineer. More than 500 attendees from over 15 countries shared their views on the various aspects of synthetic biology, such as research, education, investment and industrial application in energy, green manufacturing, agriculture, drug production and medicine, among others.

While officiating at the conference, Financial Secretary John Tsang said that "Hong Kong is home to some 250 biotechnology-related firms, comprising mainly healthcare-related companies with businesses in pharmaceuticals, medicinal or healthcare products of traditional Chinese medicine. Activities include product R&D, manufacturing, marketing and sales. About 70 of these companies are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Growth Enterprise Market."

"Hong Kong has laid a firm foundation for developing biotechnology, and we will continue our investments in this area, in both academic research and in nurturing a thriving industry."