Cheryl Cui

As early as 2004, MIT Technology Review listed synthetic biology as one of the 10 Breakthrough Technologies. Today, synthetic biotechnology is widely used and can be found across many industries, changing the fields of green economy, manufacturing, health, agriculture, resource development, environmental protection, and national defense.

Bota Biosciences (Bota), founded in 2019, has become a leading synthetic biology startup in China. Dr. Cheryl Cui, who earned his Ph.D. in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics from Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology, is its co-founder. Recently, Bota has closed a new round of financing led by BASF Ventures.

Prior to Bota, Cheryl was the founding partner of Nest.Bio Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm established in 2017, specializing in financing and helping establish life science companies with high-risk, cutting-edge technologies. Currently, Cheryl serves as a board member in a number of companies, including HiFiBiO, RootPath, and PAQ Therapeutics.

According to Cheryl, working alongside talented scientists and entrepreneurs has cemented his desire to build Bota.

“I hope that Bota will become an engine for biological programming and discovery. Trained as a biomedical engineer, my personal mission is to identify and invent promising biotechnologies that address unmet needs that can make a real-world impact,” Cheryl said.