"Diligence genes", high oleic soybeans, and "golden rice" containing carotene ... These are not scientists' whimsy, but are gradually becoming a reality and may bring about revolutionary changes in the biological industry. With the development of a new generation of biotechnology, the interests of resources, the environment, farmers and consumers have received more attention. The global bio-industry has entered the 2.0 era.
The reporter conducted an exclusive interview with the heads of multinational organizations and companies such as the Plant Protection (China) Association, Monsanto, and Dupont on the development of global biotechnology. He sought to provide readers with as much detail as possible about a blueprint for the bio industry.
Countries compete for the commanding heights of biotechnology
“Although it has been heard from time to time that there are different voices on genetic modification, now whether it is developed countries in Europe or the United States or developing countries, we have placed biotechnology research and development in a very important position as a strategic commanding height.†Monsanto General Manager, China Biotechnology R&D Center Zhang Jian said in an interview with reporters.
According to the 2011 report of the International Agency for the Application of Agricultural Biotechnology (ISA AA), the planting area of ​​genetically modified crops was 1.7 million hectares in 1996 and reached 160 million hectares in 2011, an increase of 94 times. This growth has made transgenic technology a modern agriculture. The most rapid application of crop technology in history.
The United States is a major grower of genetically modified crops. Its planted area is 69 million hectares (43% of the world's total). In 2011, the growth of GM maize and cotton in the United States was particularly rapid, and the replanting of herbicide-resistant crops was resumed. On December 1, 2011, the United States’ anti-virus papaya was officially approved for sale in Japan as fresh fruit/food.
The EU's GM insect-resistant BT corn planting area reached 114,500 hectares, an increase of 26% compared to 2010, or 23,300 hectares. If approved, a potato “Fortuna†against late blight will be launched in 2014. This may become an important product to meet EU policy and environmental requirements, and can achieve potato by reducing the use of fungicides and reducing production losses. Sustainable production.
Brazil has become the growth engine for genetically modified crops. The country approved for the first time the combination of insect- and herbicide-tolerant soybeans and will be commercialized in 2012. The public agency EMBRAPA, with an annual budget of US$1 billion, was granted commercial production of genetically modified anti-virus soybeans (rice and soybeans are the main products in Latin America) with independent intellectual property rights.
Zhang Jian said that currently large companies in the global agriculture sector are developing more biotechnology research and development. For example, Monsanto has started to make genetically modified wheat, and Syngenta and DuPont have genetically modified rice.
According to the Plant Protection (China) Association, cooperation between the public and private sectors is creating opportunities for developing countries. For example, vegetables are high-value crops, but due to their small size, they are often not the focus of multinational companies. However, it is a good opportunity for public research institutions and local companies to develop products suitable for local and regional markets. One successful example is the insect-resistant Bt eggplant developed by India-based Mahhyco.
Bio-agriculture moves to second-generation technology
Biotechnology in agriculture is mainly used in breeding, including transgenic technology and molecular breeding technology. Zhang Mengyu, director of industry and business affairs at DuPont China Pioneer Seed Affairs Department, told reporters that “high-yield, high-quality, multi-resistance has always been the goal of crop breeding, and biotechnology is the best and fastest technology to achieve this goal.â€
"High yield" is one of the most important tasks in the development of biological agriculture. Zhang Hao believes that how to truly find genes that increase yield from thousands of genes is in itself very challenging. Monsanto is studying a "diligence gene" that can regulate the biological clock of soybeans. Soybeans generally begin to grow after 7 or 8 in the morning, and they can start at 6 o'clock after entering this gene, making more use of daytime and a longer growth cycle.
Pioneer Co., Ltd. started from seed production and created a corn seed production technology (SPT technology) that can not only improve seed production and reduce seed production costs, but also enable seeds to have better purity and higher quality, which is beneficial to yield. Promote.
Enhancing the resistance of crops is an important guarantee for production. In this respect, there have been many new developments in the world. For example, corn is a staple food crop widely grown in the African continent, and corn is very vulnerable to frequent dry weather. Drought-resistant crops are considered to be the most important goals of the entire crop improvement project. The African Agricultural Technology Genealogy (A A T F ) led a public-private partnership project, the African drought-tolerant maize project (WE M A ). The project develops drought-tolerant maize through tools such as conventional breeding, molecular marker breeding and biotechnology.
Zhang Hao said that the first generation drought-resistant genes of Monsanto were isolated from microbes and could better cope with environmental changes. The transfer of this gene into corn will help the plant to better weather the drought in case of drought.
In order to cope with problems such as insecticide resistance, compound traits have increasingly become an important feature of transgenic crops. According to the report from the International Organization for the Application of Agricultural Biotechnology Applications, in 2011, 12 countries planted two or more trait-complex GM crops, which accounted for a quarter of the world's 160 million GM crops.
Zhang Ke said that Monsanto's GM soybeans were originally herbicide-resistant, and they were later superimposed on two traits. Now they can be superimposed on 8 genes and 6 traits. For example, there are two sets of genes for insect resistance, which have different mechanisms and greatly reduce the possibility of resistance.
"The first-generation biotech crops have achieved substantial growth in production." According to a report from the International Organization for the Application of Agricultural Biotechnology Applications, second-generation biotech crops can also increase product output and provide farmers with more new products. Surprise. For example, rice rich in vitamin A, high quality without trans fats, reduced content of saturated fats, and rich soybeans with rich Omega 3 content will become more popular, offering more mixed features that appeal to consumers.
Wang Qinfang, Director of Biotechnology and Regulatory Affairs at DuPont China Pioneer Seed Division, said in an interview with reporters that in 2010, DuPont Pioneer used soybean's own genes to successfully develop genetically modified high-oleic soybeans, which produced 75% of the oleic acid content of soybean oil. It is not easily oxidized and stored longer; the ingredients are equivalent to olive oil and are more conducive to the health of consumers.
In some poorly nutritious areas, children are vulnerable to blindness due to lack of carotene. It is understood that in 2011, the Philippine Rice Research Institute conducted a restricted field trial of varieties bearing the "golden rice" trait (containing high levels of beta-carotene). The results and compliance test results will be submitted in 2013. For Filipino authorities, it is expected that “Gumi†will enter the market for the first time in the Philippines in 2013/2014.
Bioenergy: Second-generation technology commercialization in sight
"As the demand for energy increases, agricultural biotechnology can also play a role in meeting energy growth." The Plant Protection (China) Association said that, for example, ethanol comes from corn, sugarcane and other crops, and biodiesel comes from soybeans and other oilseed crops. The product. At the same time, researchers are developing new biofuels.
It is understood that biotech crops specifically designed for biofuel applications include alpha-starch corn that was approved in the United States in 2011 and permitted circulation and planting, and the alpha-amylase produced by the corn makes starch conversion more efficient and consumes. With less energy, the ethanol produced is also cheaper and more environmentally friendly.
However, if corn is used as an energy crop, after all, there is the problem of “grabbing with grain and competing with people for foodâ€. Researchers are focusing more on second-generation bioethanol technologies, including cellulosic ethanol, or planting modified energy crops such as sweet sorghum and cellulose sorghum in saline land.
Wang Jianping, business director of biofuels in the Asia-Pacific region of DuPont's Industrial Applications Biotechnology Division, told reporters that the second-generation cellulosic ethanol technology brings agricultural and forestry waste containing cellulose and hemicellulose to straw, and it is transformed through biochemical technology. Sugar, and then fermented into alcohol, and then mixed with gasoline into biofuels. According to the corn planting area in Jilin Province, if 50% of corn stover is used to produce cellulosic ethanol, 25 cellulosic ethanol plants with an annual output of 75,000 tons can be built. If the corn yield per second is increased by 20% through advanced seed technology, 10 additional factories can be built.
“The development and commercialization of cellulosic ethanol has made great breakthroughs.†Wang Jianping said that DuPont built a demonstration plant with an annual output of 758 tons in the United States two years ago and hopes to build the world’s first commercial plant in the second half of this year. Annual output of cellulosic ethanol will reach 82,000 tons. Other companies are promoting the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol in countries such as the United States, Brazil, and Italy. About three to four commercial cellulose ethanol plants are under construction in the United States. By the end of 2013 or 2014, these plants will be put into production.
Wang Jianping said that DuPont has been negotiating with some domestic companies on the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol, and it is expected that by 2015, there will be one to three commercial plants that produce cellulosic ethanol.
Wang Jianping also believes that biofuels should be diversified. For example, 1.5-generation ethanol and cellulosic ethanol need to coexist. It is also possible to develop the third-generation algae bioethanol technology. Biobutanol is also a good development direction in the future.
Demand-oriented business model
In fact, innovation in the bio-industry is not only a technological innovation but also an innovation in the business model. For MNCs such as Monsanto and DuPont, “demand and value†is the core orientation of its R&D system and business model.
Zhang Hao said that Monsanto’s R&D system starts with “discoveryâ€, that is, testing tens of thousands of genes for high-pass testing to screen for desirable traits, such as whether it can increase growth rate and whether it can increase Chlorophyll content, whether it can resist drought.
Once a "promising" gene is found, it enters the concept certification period. Monsanto's R&D line tests thousands of genes each year in crops. Generally, a gene needs to be tested for at least two or three years to know if it has commercial value.
Next is the early development phase of commercialization, where the best transformation events are screened in a large number of genetically modified materials and then integrated into different germplasm resources to see if the gene expression is equally efficient and stable. At the same time conduct safety assessments and apply for approval on a global scale. Finally, after the marketing preparation, the products are put on the market.
Zhang Mengyu said that electronic products such as IPhone can be used on a global scale, and crop varieties must be cultivated according to the climate, soil and other environmental factors in different regions. Only by being oriented by customers and guided by the needs of local farmers can the best varieties be cultivated.
In addition, the safety of biotechnology is the public's concern and concern. This requires that the commercialization of biotechnology must adhere to the principle of scientific caution.
Zhang Jian emphasized in particular that Monsanto's conventional breeding and biological breeding belong to two different "parallel lines", and once they find commercial value, they will soon be combined to carry out product testing and development. However, there is a strict "firewall" between scientific research and commercialization, which guarantees that products will not enter the market until they are approved by the government.
Wang Qinfang said that in order to ensure the safety of the GM crops to the environment and humans, DuPont Pioneer has invested a lot of manpower and resources in the compliance and safety supervision of genetically modified products. Now all genetically modified materials and breeding materials are tracked. Every step has people. Regulate and enforce the strictest standards.
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