Although the safety of genetically modified foods remains controversial, the sudden emergence of biofuels and global efforts to reduce CO2 emissions have opened the door to opportunities for large-scale investment in GM technology.

Plant transgenic technology is the commanding height of research, development and competition in international agricultural biotechnology.

Among the 16 major special projects of the National Development and Reform Commission’s “Eleventh Five-Year Plan for National High-tech Industrialization”, one item is the modern agricultural special project. This special item proposes to “focus on the development of genetically modified and molecular marker-assisted breeding technologies and promote a number of The industrialization of high-quality, high-yield and multi-resistant new varieties of crops."

The National Development and Reform Commission has decided to implement the special project of high-tech industrialization of biological breeding during 2007-2008. Through the implementation of special projects, the selection and development of new varieties of major crops and their industrialization will be promoted, and a large number of breakthrough new varieties with high yield, good quality, multi-resistance and high-efficiency will be cultivated and promoted to form corresponding agricultural biological breeding technology platforms and new varieties industrialization bases in China. Promote the technological advancement of agricultural enterprises, cultivate a batch of leading enterprises with international competitiveness, and accelerate the upgrading of China's agricultural biological breeding innovation capability.

A recent report from the International Service Organization for Agricultural Biotechnology Applications (ISAAA) pointed out that in 2007, the area under cultivation of global GM crops increased by 12% to 114.3 million hectares. At present, the number of developing countries planting GM crops has exceeded the number of developed countries, and the growth rate of this technology in developing countries (21%) is more than three times that of industrialized countries (6%).

“With the rise in global food prices, GM crops will be more important than ever,” said Clive James, chairman and founder of ISAAA.

The rapid development of transgenic technology has brought considerable economic benefits. The British Cropnosis Consulting Company assessed that the global market value of genetically modified crops in 2007 was US$6.9 billion, accounting for 16% of the global crop protection market and 20% of the global business seed market of US$34 billion. Including 3.2 billion US dollars of genetically modified corn, 2.6 billion US dollars of genetically modified soybeans, 900 million US dollars of genetically modified cotton and 200 million US dollars of genetically modified oilseed rape. Experts estimate that the global market for GM crops in 2008 will be approximately US$7.5 billion.

Government promotes technology research and development

The development of genetically modified technologies in our country began as early as 1999. In that year, the central government invested 510 million yuan, and departments, local governments, and social institutions invested 320 million yuan, formally launched the "National Research and Industrialization of Genetically Modified Plants" program, and focused on the cloning of functional genes, the creation of new transgenic materials, and the core technological innovations in gene transformation. New product development and industrialization, safety assessment of transgenic plants, and construction of genetically modified platforms.

For many years, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and other departments have focused on the major tasks facing agricultural ecological construction and fully integrated China's resources, talents, and technological advantages in the field of transgenic plant research, and achieved a series of major breakthroughs and innovations. We have also established a highly efficient and safe transgenic technology system for cotton, rice, rape, corn, soybeans, peanuts, poplars, and other major crops as well as forestry, flowers, and fruit trees.

With the establishment of a technical system, China has also successively approved the commercial production of some genetically modified plant crops, such as the approval of genetically modified cotton in 1997, and has subsequently approved the commercial cultivation of genetically modified tomatoes, genetically modified peppers, and transgenic papayas. Among them, GM rice technology has matured and completed large-scale multi-field field trials, introduced by Professor Huang Da of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, but it has not been approved for commercialization.

Security disputes have been a powerful obstacle to the promotion of genetically modified crops. Three years ago, China shelved the commercial planting plan for genetically modified rice. According to the Agriculture Department of the National Development and Reform Commission's Department of Agriculture and Economics, the state's attitude toward genetically modified rice is allowed to be studied, but due to safety controversy, production cannot yet be approved.

“If 30% of the rice planted in China can grow genetically modified rice, its output value will increase enormously. Millions of small and medium-sized farmers will benefit from it, such as planting genetically modified eggplant in India, where 2 million farmers will come from. Benefits, but also reduce the use of a variety of pesticides. The cream seen on the eggplant is often pesticides, and now reduce the potential of pesticides is very large." ClimeJames said.

As GM crops are beneficial to increase production, reduce pesticides, reduce costs, increase the economic benefits of planting, and have a price advantage in the international market, non-transgenic crop growers are affected.

As an illustration, GM soybeans have been rapidly developed in the late 1990s due to their low production costs, high herbicide-tolerant efficiency, simplified weed management, reduced human and livestock pesticide poisoning, and improved soybean oil quality characteristics. Ordinary soybeans. In China, due to the large number of genetically modified soybeans planted in the United States, non-genetically modified soybean growers in Northeast China and other places have been greatly impacted.

However, GM foods are limited in many countries due to their unknown safety factors. In January 2001, the Biosafety Protocol adopted by representatives of more than 130 countries stipulated that exporters of genetically modified products must add “may contain genetically modified ingredients” to their products and require identification of genetically modified foods. At the same time, it is stipulated that all countries have the right to prohibit the import of genetically modified foods that may pose a threat to humans and the environment

Biofuels: The Future of Genetically Modified Crops

Genetically modified foods were blocked and GM technology promoters actively sought breakthroughs. The high level of operation of international oil for several years allowed them to see a bright future. "The growth of 40% GM corn in North America is driven by biofuel demand," said Clime James.

The GM crops in the United States, Canada, and Australia will continue to grow, and the use of genetically modified crops for biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel in countries dominated by the United States and Brazil will become an important new development. The cost advantage of genetically modified corn and rapeseed has led to a significant increase in production, which can meet the rapidly growing demand for raw materials for biofuels.

According to the ISAAA report, of the 114.3 million hectares of genetically modified crops grown in the world in 2007, approximately 9%, or 11.2 million hectares of genetically modified crops, were used to produce biofuels, of which more than 90% were planted in the United States. It is estimated that there are 7 million hectares of genetically modified canola in the United States, and the total area of ​​U.S. genetically modified biofuels is 10.4 million hectares. Last year, Brazil used 750,000 hectares of genetically modified soybeans to produce biofuels. About 45,000 hectares of genetically modified canola are used in Canada to produce biofuels.

Transgenic poplars have been planted in China. GM promoters believe that GM crops have contributed to reducing CO2 emissions. Researchers are now developing GM crops that can grow faster to deal with frequent climate changes. Transgenic poplars and the rapidly growing trees that are being developed can meet the need for rapid reforestation around the world to mitigate the effects of global warming.

Target market demand

Despite the great controversy over the safety of genetically modified foods, Professor Huang Da of the Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences told China Investment that the Chinese had consumed the genetically modified tomato produced by China many years ago.

At that time, everyone's concern about safety was not as much as it was later. The country approved the production of genetically modified tomatoes, considering that the genetically modified tomato could resist disease. Although no new problems were found in safety, another issue was overlooked at the time. Its quality was not as good as that of ordinary tomatoes. Huang Da said that the taste of this tomato was not good, so he later competed in the market with ordinary tomatoes and slowly withdrew from the market.

"In addition to safety, genetically modified products also need to see whether consumers accept its quality and taste," Huang said.

The future development of genetically modified crops will be subject to security torture on the one hand, and harsh consumer choices on the other. Similarly, there are petunias in crops that are not competitive in commercial cultivation and thus exit the market. This kind of morning glory, which is widely seen on the streets of Beijing, is white and red. However, at the time, the genetically modified morning glory had caused it to become variegated, and this variegated color had not been favored by people. Therefore, it had not been successful. Huang Da introduced that papaya was also commercialized the year before. However, papaya products are not considered to be a big crop in China. Therefore, everyone does not pay much attention to it.

“Now we call the first-generation technology products that have been promoted. The genetic background of the first generation of genetically modified crops is relatively simple, so transferring a single gene can make a difference. However, a large number of products are now needed, and the encoding genes are diverse. For example, if we want more nutritious, healthier foods, and products that can improve quality, this is not a gene that can solve it. It needs a complicated regulatory process. This is the goal we will develop next. ". Huang Da said.

He introduced that a new generation of genetically modified crops independently developed by China will have features such as nutrient health, medical care, stress-resistant fertilizer, improved quality, and environmental remediation. For example, with high phytase corn, the animals can strengthen the absorption of organic phosphorus after eating this feed and can reduce the pollution of phosphorus in the environment. This technology has already entered the production experiment. Another example is high-calcitonin rapeseed, which produces 3 milligrams of organic calcium for human absorption per gram of seed. In addition, there is tomato oral vaccine to prevent hepatitis B and so on.

“In addition, we have developed plants that have the ability to degrade pesticides. Everyone is very concerned that there are also some major controversies on the recent issues of pesticides in China and Japan. If we turn the genes for degrading pesticides into genetically modified plants, we can We can well reduce the production of pesticides to ensure our health,” Huang said.

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