中国农业科学院深圳农业基因组研究所

What 中国农业科学院深圳农业基因组研究所 does

The Agricultural Genome Institute at Shenzhen (AGIS) — 中国农业科学院深圳农业基因组研究所 — is a national agricultural genomics research institution founded in 2014 and jointly supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), and the Shenzhen Municipal Government. It operates under 理事会 (board) management as CAAS's designated reform "test field," which grants it heightened research autonomy, flexible talent evaluation, and delegated authority over intellectual property. The institute applies a "3+2" discipline architecture built on three technology pillars — multi-omics (genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, metagenomics, phenomics), gene editing, and synthetic biology — directed toward two application axes: bio-breeding and food health. It houses six research centers (omics technology, synthetic biology, plant genomics, animal genomics, ecological genomics, and food science) and runs both a Shenzhen headquarters in Dapeng New District and a 150-mu comprehensive experimental base used for breeding demonstrations and public science outreach.

The institute delivers no commercial products as sold goods. Its outputs are peer-reviewed research (more than 2,200 papers including publications in Nature, Science, Cell, and their sub-journals), 50+ nationally and provincially approved new crop varieties bred through genomic design breeding, proprietary bioinformatics software (SMARTdenovo, wtdbg, ALLHiC, HapHiC, KMERIA, MetaKSSD, ULTRAt, Allele-Express), a CRISPR-based diagnostic platform (ULTRAt) demonstrating 100x sensitivity gains, AI/ML tools including the Porcine MutBERT 86M-parameter genomic foundation model, and biocontrol solutions (e.g., banana Fusarium-wilt suppression via Streptomyces, lowering disease incidence from 80% to 13.33%). Underlying technical components include third-generation sequencing assembly algorithms, polyploid phasing and haplotype-phasing methods (C-Phasing), k-mer-based polyploid GWAS, and light-controlled CRISPR/Cas12a diagnostics. Revenue flows almost entirely from central and Shenzhen municipal appropriations plus project-based grants (e.g., the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Hy-Gain program), with supplementary income from technology licensing, seed commercialization, and enterprise incubation through the Industry Development Center and the Shenzhen International Food Valley initiative.

AGIS serves four primary customer segments: (1) central and provincial government research programs addressing national food security and seed-industry self-sufficiency; (2) farmers, cooperatives, and rural communities reached through science-commissioner extension programs deployed in Guangdong, Yunnan, Guangxi, Xinjiang, and Bama; (3) agricultural biotechnology firms participating in enterprise incubation and licensing arrangements under the Shenzhen International Food Valley; and (4) graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, including dual-degree cohorts jointly trained with the Université de Liège and Wageningen University alongside 13+ Chinese partner universities. Strategic partners include the International Potato Center (CIP, "Premium Potato Plan"), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Harvard University, Cornell University, the University of Queensland (cowpea pan-genome with the Tao Yongfu team), and the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (banana Fusarium wilt collaboration with Cheng Xu's team).

Name

中国农业科学院深圳农业基因组研究所

Legal name

中国农业科学院深圳农业基因组研究所

Website

https://agis.caas.cn

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

AGIS is a government-affiliated agricultural genomics research institute in Shenzhen, jointly supported by CAAS and the Ministry of Agriculture, conducting multi-omics, gene-editing, and synthetic-biology research to develop new crop varieties and serve national food-security and seed-industry objectives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Genomics Research

NAICS

Oilseed and Grain Farming (1111)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYAFAGAIAG

Biotechnology & Gene-Edited Trait Development

Agriculture & Food Production/Crop Farming/Seed Production & Plant Breeding (Seed Multiplication, Hybrid Seed, Certified Seed)

SECONDARYAFABAFAB

Cereal & Grain Seeds (Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rye)

Agriculture & Food Production/Agricultural Inputs & Agrochemicals/Seed & Planting Inputs (Seeds, Seed Treatments, Inoculants)

SECONDARYAFACABAG

Precision/Variable-Rate Agronomy & Rx Development

Agriculture & Food Production/Agricultural Services (Custom Farming, Agronomy, Veterinary)/Crop Consulting & Agronomy Services (Soil Health, Nutrient Planning, Yield Consulting)

SECONDARYEDAOAOAA

Agricultural Production & Farm Operations

Education/Vocational, Technical & Trade Education/Agriculture, Horticulture & Skilled Trades

Keywords

• Agricultural genomics research
• Crop variety development
• Synthetic biology platforms
• Multi-omics analysis
• Plant breeding technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Shenzhen (Shenzhen Comprehensive Experimental Base)

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Government funding and public research grants: As a public research institute under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, CAAS, and Shenzhen Municipal Government. Operates as a non-profit research institution with理事会 management, exploring mechanism innovation.
2. Technology transfer and commercialized breeding outcomes: The institute has bred 50+ nationally and provincially approved new crop varieties through genomic design breeding. Revenue is generated through technology licensing, seed commercialization, and enterprise incubation in the agricultural biotechnology sector.
3. Enterprise incubation and industry development: The institute operates an enterprise incubation program and technology transfer/promotion division (产业发展中心), nurturing agri-tech startups and supporting commercialization of research outcomes in the Shenzhen International Food Valley initiative.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

AGIS is a public agricultural genomics research institute that conducts basic and applied research using multi-omics technologies (genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, metagenomics, phenomics), gene editing, and synthetic biology. It develops and licenses new crop varieties bred through genomic design breeding (50+ approved varieties), publishes peer-reviewed research, trains graduate students and postdoctoral researchers through the Shenzhen Graduate School, and operates enterprise incubation and rural technology extension programs under the Shenzhen International Food Valley initiative.

Product overview

中国农业科学院深圳农业基因组研究所 is a public agricultural research institution rather than a product company. It does not offer commercial products or services for sale. The institute focuses on agricultural genomics research, graduate education through the Shenzhen Graduate School, and scientific collaboration. Its activities include basic research in genomics, synthetic biology, plant and animal genomics, ecological genomics, and food science; training of graduate students (master's, doctoral, and postdoctoral researchers); and industry partnerships for technology transfer. No commercial products, SaaS platforms, or software offerings are described in the source material.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Shenzhen Graduate School Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• Natural Index ranking: top among national agricultural research institutes since 2019
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature10 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• National Key Laboratory of Plant Pest Comprehensive Management / New Plant Protection Editorial DepartmentmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Co-organized the 'Biotechnology and Pesticide Application and Frontier Interdisciplinary Academic Exchange Conference' in Shenzhen, June 2026. Participants included 11 experts from CAAS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, South China Normal University, and others.
• Yunnan Provincial Political Consultative Conference / Yunnan Agricultural University / Yunnan Academy of Agricultural SciencesmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Yunnan Vice Chairman Li Xuelin led a research delegation to the institute in May 2025. Both parties agreed to combine their respective advantages in technology R&D and specialty germplasm resources. Discussions focused on collaborating to advance Shenzhen research outcomes for transfer in Yunnan.
• Fudan UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Joint graduate training partner. Listed among 13+ partner universities for joint enrollment. Fudan University recruits doctoral and master's students through the Life Sciences and Ecology programs at AGIS.
• Harbin Institute of TechnologymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Joint graduate training partner. The institute's Agricultural Artificial Intelligence College recruits 5-10 doctoral and 10-20 master's students in related fields.
• South China University of TechnologymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Joint graduate training partner. Recruits approximately 10 master's students in Biological and Medical Engineering and related fields.
• Huanong (South China Agricultural University)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Joint graduate training partner. Recruits approximately 10 master's students in Agriculture and Seed Industry, Biological and Medical, Animal Husbandry and related programs. Also co-supervises doctoral students.
• Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural SciencescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Cheng Xu's team collaborates with the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences' Institute of Tropical Biotechnology (Xie Jianghui and Wang Wei teams) on streptomyces research and banana Fusarium wilt disease, publishing jointly in Nature Communications.
• Northwest A&F UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Joint graduate training partner. Recruits approximately 10 master's students in Life Sciences, Animal Science, Agriculture and related programs.
• Foshan Kunpeng Institute of Modern AgriculturemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Co-founded institute in Foshan. Joint research partner contributing to the rose pan-genome paper published in Nature Genetics. The institute's Chief Scientist program is based at this facility.
• International Potato Center (CIP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014International research institute for potato and sweet potato. The institute collaborates with CIP on potato genomic research and the 'Premium Potato Plan' (优薯计划), which aims to revolutionize potato breeding through sexual reproduction.
• International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014International agricultural research institute focused on rice research. Collaborative partner in rice genomics and breeding research.
• Harvard UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014International academic collaboration with Harvard University in life sciences and genomics research. Individual research fellows and visiting scholars from Harvard have joined the institute.
• Cornell UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Academic collaboration with Cornell University in agricultural genomics research. One of the 22 international partner institutions listed on the institute's official website.
• University of QueenslandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014The institute's Tao Yongfu team collaborates with Professor Emma Mace's team at University of Queensland on cowpea pan-genome research, jointly publishing results in Nature Communications.
• Liège University (Université de Liège, Belgium)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Partner university for CAAS-China joint doctoral program. The joint doctoral program with Liège University is listed in the institute's graduate school international education section. Students receive dual degrees from both institutions.
• Wageningen University (Netherlands)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Partner university for CAAS-China joint doctoral program. Listed in the institute's graduate school international education section. One of Europe's leading agricultural universities.
• Chinese Plant Society / Peking UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Co-initiator of the PLANeT (Plant planet Initiative) together with 49 domestic and international institutions. The initiative aims to decode the genetic information of major land plant lineages and create a complete 'Tree of Plant Life'.
• Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of SciencesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014One of 22 international partner institutions listed on the official website under cooperation institutions.
• Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences Specialty InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014The institute has signed cooperation agreements with the Specialty Institute (特产所) for rural revitalization and technology support programs.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Pairwise: US-based agricultural technology company using gene editing for crop improvement. An emerging private-sector peer that commercializes some of the same gene-editing and breeding approaches the institute develops, but with direct commercial incentive.

Direct peers

• International Potato Center (CIP): International research institute focused on potato and sweet potato. The Shenzhen institute collaborates with CIP on the 'Premium Potato Plan' for sexual-reproduction-based potato breeding, making CIP a directly comparable partner on polyploid crop genomics and breeding.
• Donald Danforth Plant Science Center: US-based independent plant science research institute working on crop improvement, bioenergy, and plant genomics. Comparable in scale, mission, and translational pipeline from plant genomics research to deployed agricultural outcomes.
• International Rice Research Institute (IRRI): International agricultural research institute focused on rice genomics and breeding. The Shenzhen institute is a documented strategic partner of IRRI on rice genomics, and the two operate at comparable scale and mission around staple crop genetic improvement.
• John Innes Centre: UK-based plant science and microbiology research institute with a similar focus on crop genetics, genomics, and synthetic biology. Comparable in mission (fundamental plant science for crop improvement) and in publishing output in top-tier journals.
• Boyce Thompson Institute: US plant science research institute focused on genomics, gene editing, and plant improvement. Directly comparable as a not-for-profit research entity producing high-impact publications in plant genomics and breeding technologies.

Broad incumbents

• BGI Group: China's largest genomics organization with strong agricultural genomics capabilities. Comparable in sequencing capacity, multi-omics methodology, and involvement in plant and animal genomics, but operates as a commercial entity rather than a public research institute.
• Institute of Crop Sciences, CAAS: Direct domestic peer within the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences focused on crop breeding and genetics. Operates at a broader institutional scale within CAAS, with overlapping mandate on national staple crop improvement.
• Wageningen University & Research: Europe's leading agricultural and food sciences research university, partner in joint doctoral training. Comparable in international standing, agricultural genomics capability, and translation of plant science into applied breeding outcomes.
• Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences: CAS-affiliated institute focused on genetics, genomics, and developmental biology. Overlaps with the Shenzhen institute on genomics methods, plant and animal genetic resources, and synthetic biology platforms.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%86%9C%E4%B8%9A%E7%A7%91%E5%AD%A6%E9%99%A2%E6%B7%B1%E5%9C%B3%E5%86%9C%E4%B8%9A%E5%9F%BA%E5%9B%A0%E7%BB%84%E7%A0%94%E7%A9%B6%E6%89%80

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about 中国农业科学院深圳农业基因组研究所