How science is embracing online world to thrive

It all started online. A glowing sunflower, which produces light through bioluminescent genes to make it a self-luminous plant, went viral online through a short video, attracting millions of views.

Netizens marveled. Comments poured in. More importantly, investors were attracted. "Before the online buzz, we were chasing investors. After going viral, they started finding us," said Li Renhan, founder of Magicpen Bio, a Hefei, Anhui province-based startup and developer of the self-luminous plant.

In much of the world, the internet is an escape from real life. But in Hefei, the story is about the compounding power of attention — how every click, every comment, every "like" adds velocity to scientific development.

Across this inland city of 10 million, a new development model is taking root — one where frontier science, civic engagement and viral media are fused into a larger force the city calls "network civilization".

Here, lab-born innovations are introduced to the public through livestreams and comment sections, where everyday users influence the trajectory of R&D, and where the machinery of high technology is backed not only by government funding, but also by online attention.

The implications are significant for China's economy at a time when traditional engines like real estate and infrastructure are experiencing slowing momentum. Hefei's experiment suggests that the next phase of growth might not come from new roads or factories, but from what happens when people and pixels start building things together.

According to Li, among the online comments was some notable help from people suffering from electromagnetic hypersensitivity — a condition that can have a wide range of symptoms that are believed to be caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields, such as those often found in conventional light sources. They saw in the soft glow of Magicpen's creation something deeply personal: a way back to comfort, to normalcy.

"A lot of people think our story started with that glowing plant. But really, our business started with an online message," he recalled.

Li, a then 28-year-old doctoral student at China Agricultural University, wanted to launch a biotech startup in March 2023. He sent just a few paragraphs into the online box of the Grand Union of Innovation, a high-tech incubator like Silicon Valley in the United States.

Two days later, his phone rang. With the help of GUI, Li set up his company in Hefei, relocated, and secured venture capital funding from Plum Ventures, a partner fund of GUI.