GM: Advance and Retreat

Some people compare the transgene to a "painful seed." Because from the day it was born, it was caught in day-to-day and day-to-day disputes and controversies. But the controversy is good, sick or worthless, under the huge commercial interests, this "bitter seed" has always reluctantly grow in the world's "corner", or whine, or eaten, just in between, the genetic modification Began to profoundly affect our lives In 2008, global food prices soared. The importance and sensitivity of food security has once again touched every nerve that is already strained in the world. At this time, GM technology as a solution to agricultural problems began to appear quietly in some public places.

At the two-member Academician Meeting last year, Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council told senior scientists that China needs major scientific and technological measures such as genetic transformation to solve food problems.

On July 9, 2008, the State Council executive meeting reviewed and in principle passed the major science and technology special projects for the cultivation of new varieties of genetically modified organisms. According to relevant media disclosures, this investment will be as high as 10 billion RMB.

Later, in November of last year, the state issued the "Mid-term and Long-term Plan for National Food Security," which clearly stated that "the launch of major new varieties of genetically modified organisms".

According to industry sources, all indications are that the Chinese government will start vigorously advancing the development of genetically modified technology in response to the food crisis. In other words, China has begun to enter the fast track of genetically modified development.

The inevitable choice

Huang Dazhao is a researcher at the Institute of Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and a member of the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh CPPCC National Committees.

In recent years, the name of this skinny old man often appears with genetic modification. Huang's proposal is also related to biotechnology. He is a firm advocate of the commercialization of GM crops.

Huang’s Institute of Bioscience and Technology at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences is a typical example of the Chinese government’s support for genetically modified technology. As the first professional institution to study agricultural GM technology in China, the Institute of Biotechnology has been consistently supported by the country since its establishment in 1986.

According to Huang, the country has long been determined to develop genetically modified technology. Recently, the start of the country's "major special project" made him very happy.

"Actually, as early as three years ago, the state listed the cultivation of new varieties of genetically modified agriculture as a national outline for medium and long-term scientific and technological development (2006-2020) and the national plan for the "Eleventh Five-year Plan."" Huang Dazhao introduced that the inclusion of “cultivation of new varieties of genetically modified agriculture” into one of the 16 major scientific and technological special projects related to the future scientific development of the country, which can be regarded as “the most important thing”. This in itself shows that China’s policy on genetically modified development is clear. It's consistent.

He said that the cultivation of new transgenic varieties includes rice, wheat, corn, cotton and soybean. The establishment of a special project means establishing a series of technology platforms and acquiring genes with important application value and independent intellectual property rights, nurturing a number of excellent varieties, improving the level of industrialization, and providing strong technology for the sustainable development of agriculture in China. support.

Many people attribute the country’s emphasis on transgenes to national conditions. Although conventional technologies still have a certain potential for development, there is no new technology to meet the needs of 1.3 billion more, achieve the goal of reaching a well-to-do level by 2020, and establish modern agriculture. The huge potential for yield increase of genetically modified technology is incomparable to the contribution of environmental protection and farmers' income increase.

Huang agrees with this view, but he further pointed out that the development of technology is also an important reason that cannot be ignored.

In recent years, GM technology that appeared in the 1970s has developed rapidly. According to statistics, the planting area of ​​genetically modified crops in the world has grown from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 125 million hectares in 2008. In 13 years, the area of ​​cultivated land has increased by 74 times, and the speed of popularization and application is rare in the history of modern agricultural science and technology development. .

As a result, GM researchers have pointed out that so far no new technologies such as genetically modified genes that have a huge impetus for human agricultural production have been seen. In other words, there is no alternative to GM technology.

Huang pointed out that at present, agriculture faces serious challenges. Without new breakthroughs in science and technology, it is difficult for agricultural production to achieve significant growth and it is difficult to reach a new level. Biotechnology such as genetic modification is the key to solving this problem. China is actually the first country in the world to carry out field trials of genetically modified crops. However, due to various reasons, later developments have gradually fallen behind the United States, especially industrialization. In the period of the ascendance of transgenic technology throughout the world, China needs to accelerate its progress. "Transgenic has become China's inevitable strategic choice." Huang Zhengzhong told reporters.

Advantages and Disadvantages

As Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Service Organization for Agricultural Biotechnology Applications (ISAAA), Dr. Clive James has come to Beijing every year. On February 23, he released the 2008 Status Report on the Global Commercialization of Biotech Crops.

According to CliveJames's report, the number of countries planting GM crops has surged to 25. As of 2008, the cumulative area of ​​biotech crops in the world reached 2 billion acres, only three years after the first breakthrough of the 1 billion-acre mark. The breakthrough of the previous one billion acre mark took a full decade.

However, as far as biotechnology is concerned, on the day of its introduction, GM has not completely allowed the public to “rest assured” for a moment. The debate surrounding genetic modification remains fierce.

Pro-speakers shouted that there has been no harm to health so far, nor can they scientifically prove that GM foods pose any threat to the human body.

“So far, the genetically modified products that have been approved for listing have been eaten by hundreds of millions of people around the world. There have not been any safety problems. Compared with hybridization and molecular markers and other genetic breeding technologies, genetically modified technology is the most advanced and safest from a scientific principle. "The director of the Biosafety Research Center of the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the member of the National Agriculture Genetically Modified Organism Safety Committee of China, Peng Yufa, said.

However, opponents pointed out that the observation time is still short, and it is impossible to make a conclusive conclusion on its genotoxicity. However, research on the safety of genetically modified foods relative to the research on transgenes itself has far less data.

At the beginning of this year, the long-standing drought in the north made people worry. As a result, drought has reawakened people's anticipation of drought crops. The US Monsanto company has previously announced that four years of development of drought-resistant maize will be put on the market ahead of schedule; domestic experts also claim that irrigation water supply is insufficient in China's farmland, and a large amount of farmland is in a shortage of water all year round. State, it is of great significance to cultivate drought-resistant crops.

“Even if you leave the issue of genetically modified safety, it is not a good idea to rely on genetically modified technology to stimulate food production.” Jiang Gaoming, chief researcher at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, clearly stated that in the past few decades, mankind’s pursuit of high yields has caused severe farmland quality. Decline and environmental pollution, food quality also showed a downward trend. The guiding ideology of genetically modified crops is to attempt to transfer a few target genes for insect resistance, drought resistance, or saline-alkali resistance, but increase environmental and bio-safety risks.

"Any technology has risks and has two sides. It needs to weigh the pros and cons from many aspects such as economic benefits, environmental effects, and public acceptability. There is a risk of genetic modification, but other technologies have limitations. Conventional technologies such as organic agriculture often have limited measures and cannot To ensure effective production increase, our goal is to minimize risks through research and management.” CliveJames said that in the past 13 years, no countries in the world have found a case of application of genetically modified crops.

......

There seems to be a definitive conclusion about genetically modified technology.

The pain of implementation

“After major special projects are launched, the scientific community calls for strict scientific experiments on genetically modified crops. If no safety risks are found, they should be approved and speeded up.” Huang Dazhao told reporters that at present, China has developed two genetically modified food crops. At home and abroad are very concerned about. One is transgenic insect-resistant rice and the other is transgenic phytase corn.

Huang Dayuan P said that the current transgenic insect-resistant rice technology is already very mature in China. If this technology is promoted, the annual benefits of transgenic rice can exceed 29 billion yuan. There is also genetically modified corn. At present, genetically modified phytase corn has been tested and preliminary investigations have been conducted. If this kind of corn is commercialized, if only a quarter of the area is planted with corn, the annual income of farmers can exceed 10 billion. Using this corn for feed processing can also save on farming costs.

"I believe that the transformation of these two genetically modified achievements will not only help promote the leap-forward development of China's transgenic technology, but also form a more efficient high-tech industrial chain." Huang told reporters a chart, the chart shows that China's grain production After reaching the peak value of 512 million tons in 1998, it fell to 520 million tons or more in 2008.

"Our country's food security situation is still severe. Transgenic insect-resistant rice is an important way to meet the growing demand for food." He explained that China's choice of GM technology is mainly to respond to future food shortages.

A research report said. At present, China's total grain output is 500 million tons. By 2020, the population will be 1.6 billion and the average person will need 400 kilograms of food. It needs 6 to 400 million tons of grain. Genetically modified food crops can reduce pesticide investment. In addition, GM technology is the core technology of bioengineering. China has achieved certain achievements in certain aspects and has a comparative advantage in the international community. However, if commercial applications are restricted, the existing relative advantages will be lost, and the international competitiveness that may be possessed will also be weaken.

So, is the progress of GM technology advancing smoothly?

"As with other new technologies, GM is also facing the fate of disconnecting production, learning and research in China." Huang Dazhao told reporters that due to China's economic development stage, the basis of marketization is relatively weak, and the number of large enterprises involved in agriculture is small and their strength is weak. Depending on government investment. Therefore, the combination of high technology and large capital is still in its infancy.

Huang said that the Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for the safety evaluation of genetic modification. The Ministry of Agriculture must first listen to the opinions of the National Commission on Genetically Modified Organisms. The Commission on Genetically Modified Organisms, established in July 2002, consists of experts in fields such as genetically modified organisms, production, processing, inspection and quarantine, agriculture, the environment, and trade. Safety assessment mainly includes two parts: First, the impact on human health, and the first on the impact on the environment.

“If the safety committee passes the rigorous certification and evaluation, it should be submitted to the ministerial meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture and listen to the opinions of different divisions and bureaus. At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture must also seek opinions from various parties, such as The opinions of the environmental protection department and the import and export management department, said Huang Dazhao, who once served as a member of the safety committee, said, "This requires a process, not to say which one is right."

“Each GM technology and its products must be scientifically assessed and safety-managed for potential risks before they are applied and put on the market.” Huang Dazhao’s view is that the commercialization of transgenic insect-resistant rice also involves ecological protection. , human health, geopolitics, international trade, and many other aspects.

It is understood that the current GM rice has entered the production test stage, the safety certificate is in the application, is waiting for approval from the Ministry of Agriculture. However, one researcher, who asked not to be named, told reporters that it is even more difficult for the advancement of genetic modification to be based on government supervision and propaganda and guidance.

"Wheat and rice are the staple foods for the people's livelihood, and no country has dared to 'release' these two genetically modified foods," the expert said.

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