The State Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity and Innovative Utilization, established under the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is dedicated to national demand-driven basic research of microbiology. The laboratory has established three core research areas: microbial diversity and intelligent resource mining, design of microbial catalytic elements and development of genome editing technologies, and microbial cell design and microbiome engineering. The laboratory is bolstered by several world-class platforms, including Asia's largest fungal specimen repository, the "Fungal Herbarium" (housing 576,000 specimens), the "Microbial Culture Collection Center" (with over 115,000 live strains), and the "National Microbiology Data Center" (containing 6PB of data). By focusing on cutting-edge scientific challenges and national strategic priorities, the laboratory has established the innovation chain of microbiology research spanning "discovery-understanding-utilization".

With a rich history dating back to the Plant Pathology and Mycology Laboratory established in 1953, the laboratory has been a cradle for numerous distinguished academicians, including Dai Fanglan, Deng Shuqun, Fang Xinfang, Yan Xunchu, Zhang Shuzheng, Wei Jiangchun, Zheng Ruyong, and Zhuang Wenying. It has played a pioneering and foundational role in various fields such as microbial diversity and taxonomy, mycology, industrial biotechnology, and microbial biochemistry and enzymology in China.

The laboratory spearheaded landmark projects such as the Flora Fungorum Sinicorum compilation and national wide microbial diversity surveys, and has been instrumental in initiating China’s microbial culture collection efforts. It has successfully broken foreign monopolies, establishing the foundation for China's amino acid, vitamin, and saccharification industries, and has recently developed advanced biomanufacturing technologies for products such as lauric acid and pentanediamine. Fourteen major achievements of the laboratory, represented by “Biomanufacturing of Vitamin C”, have won national science and technology awards.