The development of China's agricultural molecular breeding industry in 2023 is based on the development of China's agricultural molecular breeding industry in 2022, and the development process of China's current seed industry is sorted out in more detail, and how China can promote the rapid development of molecular breeding through strategic layout in the context of industrial development.
New technologies are driving the wheels of the 21st century, and so is agriculture.
From the field to key policies, as the chip of agricultural development, the seed source has become the foundation of innovation. Biological breeding is the driving force for the development of modern agriculture, and it is also a strategic and basic core industry to ensure national food security.
At present, molecular marker-assisted selection, transgenic, gene editing, synthetic biology and intelligent breeding and other biological breeding technologies have become the strategic focus of countries around the world to seize the commanding heights of science and technology and compete for the international competitiveness of agriculture.
As the world's second largest seed demander, China's seed industry development is in an important period of historical opportunities and challenges. Following 2022, Document No. 1 in 2023 once again proposes to fully implement major biological breeding projects and accelerate the cultivation of new varieties such as high-yield and high-oil soybeans, short-growth rapeseed, and saline-alkali tolerant crops. Accelerate the pace of industrialization of corn and soybean biological breeding, expand the scope of pilot projects in an orderly manner, and standardize planting management.
Yiou Think Tank: Document No. 1 in 2023 clearly promotes rural revitalization in an all-round way
*: China**Net.
In 2023, the first document proposed for the first time to accelerate the pace of commercialization of biological breeding, pay attention to the industrial transformation brought about by biological breeding, and its tone of "accelerating the pace of commercialization of biological breeding" is not only in line with the overall situation of food security, but also in line with the internal needs of the revitalization of the domestic seed industry. At the same time, Document No. 1 of 2023 requires further consolidation of food security, and enterprises that are solidly engaged in agricultural technical services are expected to fully benefit from the wave of rural revitalization. In addition, on the basis of the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the first rural work conference to "comprehensively promote rural revitalization and accelerate the construction of an agricultural power", the first document gives the basic connotation of building an agricultural power. In April 2023, China's first soybean gene editing safety certificate was approved; At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued the "Evaluation Rules for Gene Edited Plants for Agriculture (Trial)" to further clarify the classification standards and evaluation rules for gene edited plants. All of the above indicates that the industrial application of molecular breeding in China has entered the fast lane.
On December 15, MGI and Yiou Think Tank jointly released the "Development of China's Agricultural Molecular Breeding Industry in 2023", hereinafter referred to as "This release aims to let more industry practitioners understand the development status and development opportunities of China's molecular breeding industry, and jointly participate in promoting the development of China's molecular breeding industry".
In the field of agricultural biological breeding, MGI is committed to providing scientists and breeders with high-throughput, low-cost, and stable agricultural genomics application products, and through cost-controllable molecular breeding tools, it can widely cover the needs of biological breeding, improve breeding efficiency, and contribute to the improvement of the agricultural industry.
In this year, we firmly believe that "the provenance is the chip of agricultural development", and in order to better develop high-quality provenance, it is necessary to further strengthen the application and promotion of biological breeding technology. In 2023, we see that both in terms of policy and industrial transformation, it is indicated that the field of molecular breeding is developing in the direction of gradual and cautious liberalization. We believe that with the help of all parties in the industrial chain, the industrial application of molecular breeding technology will usher in rapid development.
On the basis of the first edition in 2022, the development of China's agricultural molecular breeding industry in 2023 will further sort out the development history, technology status, domestic and foreign technology and application development, difficulties and strategic layout of China's seed industry, hoping to provide practitioners with a relatively complete industrial development map.
We refine the core points as follows:
1. Chinese breeding is in the field of cross breeding (2version 0) with molecular breeding (3Version 0) combined with the transitional stage, the underlying scientific research and technology level of China's molecular breeding has entered the wisdom of breeding 4There is not much difference between the developed countries at stage 0.
2. Policy supervision plays a key role in the industrial application of molecular breeding, and the current regulatory policies and models of biological breeding in China are in a state of cautious liberalization, and the details of the implementation policies need to be further improved.
3. Although the richness of China's germplasm resource bank is at the international leading level, the development of accurate identification technology is relatively lagging behind, and the accurate identification of germplasm resources still faces challenges.
4. The rapid development of molecular breeding requires close cooperation between all parties in the industrial chain, and deepens the cooperation between scientific research institutes and seed enterprises, so as to form a technology research and development and industrialization system with a clear division of labor.
5. Further strengthen the R&D cooperation between enterprises and scientific research institutes, reduce R&D risks, improve the integration of breeding, breeding and promotion, and enhance the self-service innovation ability of enterprises by jointly building technology platforms and preparing for the establishment of joint breeding R&D platforms.
6. There is a lack of talents in the molecular breeding industry that connect the technical end and the industrial end, and the current industry cannot do a good connection between the technical end and the production end; Therefore, intelligent molecular breeding requires a large number of compound talents to jointly promote industrial progress.
7. Intellectual property protection plays a pivotal role in the development of molecular breeding industry, and China's molecular breeding intellectual property system is in the stage of construction and improvement, and it is necessary to further improve relevant laws and regulations to create a good competitive environment for enterprises.
8. To promote China's agricultural science and technology innovation and industrial development, it is necessary to integrate molecular breeding technology with agricultural digitalization, promote the development of smart agriculture, rural areas and rural areas through digital transformation, and make molecular breeding an important part of rural revitalization, agricultural development, rural stability, and farmers' income increase.
Summary of contentChina's breeding industry is developing again
Policy-driven breeding industry:Breeding is the basic support for agricultural development, and the provenance is located in the upstream of the agricultural industry chain, which is the most important carrier of agricultural scientific and technological progress. The innovation of seed technology has led to the development of cultivation and cultivation, plant protection, agricultural engineering, agricultural environmental protection, agricultural product processing and other fields. Promoting the high-quality development of the seed industry and winning the "turnaround" of the seed industry is an inevitable requirement for realizing rural revitalization and agricultural and rural modernization.
In 2023, the first document proposed for the first time to accelerate the pace of commercialization of biological breeding, pay attention to the industrial transformation brought about by biological breeding, and its tone of "accelerating the pace of commercialization of biological breeding" is not only in line with the overall situation of food security, but also in line with the internal needs of the revitalization of the domestic seed industry.
Investment institutions in the direction of the seed industryThe layout of investment institutions in the seed industry is as follows: investment in seed industry science and technology companies, support for seed industry start-ups, establishment of seed industry, industrial financing, industrial integration and mergers and acquisitions, industrial services and consulting.
Analysis of the development trend and characteristics of China's seed industry in the industry changeThe development of breeding technology can be divided into four main periods: primitive domestication and selective breeding (1version 0), conventional breeding (2version 0), molecular breeding (3version 0) and intelligent breeding (4version 0). After years of development, at present, China's breeding industry is in the middle of hybrid breeding (2version 0) with molecular breeding (3version 0) in combination with the stages of transition.
Molecular breeding techniques
It is a seed industry innovationThe motivation and source of the wellspring
Whether it is molecular marker-assisted breeding, genome-wide selection technology, transgenic technology, or gene editing technology, it is inseparable from the support of gene sequencing technology. Gene sequencing is the underlying technology basis of molecular breeding, which completes the breeding process through measurement-calculation-transformation, and gene sequencing technology runs through the complete breeding process, and its application efficiency directly determines the success rate and efficiency of breeding. At present, gene sequencing technology has its own characteristics, and it plays its own advantages in basic research and breeding practice in the early stage of breeding.
Molecular marker-assisted breeding:Molecular marker-assisted selection (MAS) is the use of molecular markers closely linked with the genotype of the target trait to carry out the gene-assisted selection of target traits, MAS has the advantages of reliability, high efficiency, long-lasting disease resistance and abundant loci, which can improve the breeding efficiency through accurate selection of target traits, and is not affected by the external environment, which greatly accelerates the breeding process.
Genetically modified technology:The introduction of exogenous genes to produce predictable and directed genetic modification transgenic technology is the use of modern biotechnology to introduce and integrate the desired target gene into the genome of the organism after artificial isolation and recombination, so as to improve the original traits of the organism or endow it with new excellent traits. Genetically modified technology has become the most mature and widely used biological breeding technology in the world.
Gene Editing Technology:In recent years, scientists have fully studied the protein structure and the characteristics of endonucleases, and developed endonuclease technology to identify specific sequence loci, which can specifically identify DNA sequences according to people's wishes, and realize site-specific editing and modification of the genome. At present, gene editing technology mainly includes ZFNS, TALENS and CRISPR gene editing technology, which has been rapidly applied in the field of animal and plant genetic improvement due to its simple design, high efficiency and low cost.
Synthetic Biology:Synthetic biology is mainly a comprehensive discipline that is based on traditional biology such as molecular biology and molecular genetics, combined with a variety of omics and systems biology methods, using new technologies such as gene synthesis, editing, and network regulation, and using engineering and computer guidance to design new life forms or transform existing life forms", which is known as "a disruptive technology that changes the future."
Innovative technologies such as gene synthesis, gene editing, protein design, cell design, and high-throughput screening are the keys to supporting the development of synthetic biology, among which gene sequencing, DNA synthesis, and genome editing technologies are its core key technologies.
Smart breeding with BT and IT cross-integration:In recent years, with the rapid development of biotechnology (BT) and information technology (IT), a new breeding model - intelligent breeding has gradually emerged, namely breeding 4Stage 0. Smart breeding is to deeply integrate BT and IT in the field of seed industry, and use modern technology to cultivate new varieties of animals and plants faster, better and more efficiently. Smart breeding has obvious advantages, and some breakthroughs have been made in scientific research and industry.
Analysis and value of molecular breeding industry chain**
The molecular breeding industry chain refers to a series of activities and processes of animal and plant breeding using molecular biology technology, which will involve multiple fields and links to form the whole process of the molecular breeding industry chain. Specifically, different industrial chain links play different market values and roles, mainly including the upstream, midstream and downstream of the molecular breeding industry chain.
Upstream industrial chain: It is the basic support of molecular breeding, mainly including the breeding process involving instruments and equipment, innovative breeding biology and information technology development, germplasm resource collection and preservation, etc., providing necessary instruments and equipment and technical research and development capabilities for molecular breeding, which is the core part of the industrial chain.
Midstream industry chain: This link mainly includes screening testing, parental creation, variety cultivation, etc., which is an innovative part of molecular breeding, and cultivates new varieties with excellent traits through different technical means.
Downstream industrial chain: This link mainly includes seed breeding, processing and packaging, sales and promotion, etc., which is the market part of molecular breeding, and pushes new varieties to the market through different channels and methods to meet the needs of different users.
Chinese Molecular Educationspecies
Analysis of the level and causes of industrial application
Industrial application of molecular breeding technology in livestock, poultry and aquatic crops1.1 More than 1 genetically modified products have passed the review meeting, and the process of biological breeding has been opened
On October 17, 2023, the official website of the Department of Seed Industry Management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs released the "Announcement on the Varieties Passed the Preliminary Examination of the Fourth Approval Meeting of the Fifth National Crop Variety Examination and Approval Committee", announcing that 37 genetically modified corn varieties and 14 genetically modified soybean varieties have passed the preliminary examination, which is the first time that genetically modified varieties have been approved in China, marking that all aspects of biological breeding have been opened smoothly.
1.2. The industrialization of crop gene editing technology is accelerating
Gene editing can shorten the R&D cycle of biological breeding from more than 10 years to 2-5 years, and the cost is greatly reduced. At present, the industrialization process of gene editing breeding technology is accelerating, and China's basic research on gene editing breeding leads the world, among which Qihe Biotech, Shunfeng Biotechnology, and other enterprises are at the forefront.
1.3. The industrial application of whole genome selection of livestock, poultry and aquatic products helps enterprises breed "perfect" varieties
Genome-wide selection can realize early selection, which has the characteristics of high accuracy and good trait selection effect, and has gradually become an important method for genetic improvement of livestock and poultry economic traits. With the development of high-throughput technology and the significant reduction of sequencing costs, sequencing-based whole gene selection technology has gradually been applied in livestock and poultry aquaculture breeding such as dairy cows, pigs, and chickens, making it possible for enterprises to cultivate "perfect" varieties and helping enterprises improve the economic benefits of cultivated varieties.
An analysis of the international gap in the industrialization process of molecular breeding in China2.1 There is not much gap between China and leading countries in molecular breeding technology
Although the progress of molecular breeding technology in China is slow, its underlying scientific research and technology level has entered 4There is not much gap between developed countries in stage 0: molecular marker-assisted selection, genome-wide selection and gene editing technology are at the international leading level as a whole.
2.2. Breeding in scientific research institutes: It has entered the stage of public welfare research and has obvious advantages in the field of crop breeding
Scientific research institutes are the main force in the field of agricultural breeding in China, with the most abundant breeding resources and breeding talents, from the application of molecular breeding technology, the application of technology and advanced equipment of scientific research institutes is close to the international level.
2.3 There is a big gap in industrial application compared with overseas developed countries, and the improvement of staple grain traits is the main application scenario of molecular breeding technology
In terms of technology application in China, scientific research institutes are gradually using whole genome selection and other technologies to promote crop breeding, and crop enterprises focus on the application of molecular marker-assisted selection technology for trait selection.
2.4. The industrialization process of molecular breeding for livestock and poultry aquaculture breeding should be carefully promoted globally
From the perspective of industrial application, the goal stage of using molecular markers to achieve large-scale cultivation of new varieties has not yet been realized, and a lot of research and practical experience are still needed. The industrialization and promotion of genetically modified and gene-edited livestock and poultry breeding is still in the stage of cautious advancement.
2.5 International molecular breeding has formed a market-driven system, and China lacks the corresponding environment
At present, the basic technical level of molecular breeding in China is basically the same as that of developed countries in the world, while there is a big gap between China and the international leading level in terms of industrial application, and the main factors are: the main industrial transformation of breeding with scientific research institutes as the core is less; (crops, livestock, poultry and aquatic products) seed enterprises have weak R&D capabilities and few technology applications; Prudent policy supervision, slow process of technology industrialization and application, etc.
Analysis of the problems and constraints in the process of industrialization of molecular breeding3.1 Policy supervision plays a key role in the industrial application of molecular breeding, and the current regulatory policies and models of biological breeding in China are cautious
At present, China's agricultural biological breeding needs more operable biological breeding production management methods to escort the industrial application of biological breeding. In 2022, China issued guidelines for the safety evaluation of gene-edited plants, but there are currently no guidelines or relevant regulatory policies for the safety evaluation of gene-edited animals. At present, the industry urgently needs the state to introduce clear and reasonable regulatory policies.
3.2 China leads the world in terms of technology and richness of germplasm resource banks, but there is a big gap between China and the world in terms of accurate identification
China's crop germplasm resources originated in the 50s of the 20th century, and in 1986, China's national germplasm resource bank was established, relying on the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, affiliated to the Institute of Crop Variety Resources, which marked the official beginning of China's organization and management of germplasm resources. Although the technology and richness of the germplasm resource bank in China are leading the world. However, there is still a big gap between China and the international level in terms of accurate identification of crop traits, such as whether the crops grown in some special regions have high yield and high quality, and the sample size of accurate identification resources has not exceeded 150,000 copies, less than 10%.
3.3 There is a large gap between R&D investment in the field of molecular breeding at home and abroad
Compared with developed countries, under the market-oriented operation, breeding R&D funds continue to flow to enterprises, rather than universities or research institutes. According to the annual report data of the ten major listed companies in China's breeding in 2022, the cumulative R&D expenses of the 10 companies are 141.9 billion yuan, compared to Bayer's 287.6 billion euros (22.4 billion yuan.)2 billion yuan), China's seed enterprises in terms of R&D investment, far from the international seed industry giants, is still in the initial stage, and needs to rely on policies and capital to help development.
3.4. Lack of cross-compound breeding talents
Crop Breeding4The core of stage 0 is the intelligent design breeding of the genome driven by big data, and its interdisciplinary and multi-technology intersection characteristics determine the breeding 4The commercial operation mode of breeding at stage 0 requires technical support in multidisciplinary fields and a R&D chain integrating production, education and research. However, most of China's universities set up colleges based on first-level disciplines, with a large number of colleges, a small capacity of internal discipline packages, and too detailed division of majors, ignoring the development of interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary disciplines. This leads to a lack of cross-compound talents.
3.5 The lack of industrial transformation of scientific research institutes is the main problem at present, and in the future, basic research and technology-enterprise cooperation will be mainly strengthened to promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements
In the future, scientific research institutes will continue to be the institutions with the most abundant biological breeding resources and the most concentrated breeding talents, but their breeding is often carried out in the form of application projects and topics, and the disadvantages brought by the molecular breeding direction led by scientific research institutes are relatively obvious, and the breeding research and development is out of touch with market demand, and the lack of attention to basic, long-term and strategic research leads to the fact that the research and development results are often unable to be promoted in the actual market and the industrial transformation is insufficient.
3.6 The core patent layout of molecular breeding in China needs urgent attention and breakthroughs, and the protection of intellectual property rights has not yet been fully played
Wang Lei, a researcher at the Intellectual Property Development Research Center of the State Intellectual Property Office, said that although China has the largest number of patent applications for molecular marker breeding, the key core technologies still need to be broken through. In addition to the above problems, in terms of patent distribution, there is still a lack of basic core patents in China's biological breeding industry.
China's molecular breeding industry
development paths and strategic initiatives
The molecular breeding policy continues to improve and promote the rapid development of the industryMolecular breeding has become the mainstream breeding method in the world, and the different policies of various countries also drive the depth and direction of industrial development. In the field of genetically modified and gene editing, policy guidance directly determines the development of the industry. The gradual liberalization of the application of new technologies has greatly promoted the development of the molecular breeding industry, and it is necessary to guide and coordinate the close cooperation and exchange of different platforms and institutions in the field of seed industry to achieve the goal of multidisciplinary cross-integration; On this basis, it is also necessary to further promote multi-dimensional, multi-field and multi-disciplinary data fusion to break the phenomenon of data silos, so as to meet the needs of the rapid development of advanced intelligent breeding technology. This will contribute to the rapid development of China's breeding industry and further promote the rapid development of agriculture.
Strengthen the construction and industrial application of germplasm resource bankGermplasm resources are the basic materials and the basis of molecular breeding. However, at present, there is still a big gap between the preservation and application of China's germplasm resource bank, which requires timely intervention of the market and the industry, and the full use of existing resources for development, in which enterprises will also play an important role.
Further deepen the cross-field communication between industry, academia and research institutes in molecular breedingThe rapid development of molecular breeding requires close cooperation between all parties in the industrial chain, deepening the cooperation between scientific research institutes and seed enterprises, and forming a technology research and development and industrialization system with a clear division of labor, which requires top-level planning and strong support.
The company leads the development of the molecular breeding industryAt present, China's molecular breeding is gradually developing towards enterprise-led, and the market-oriented mechanism is gradually being established. Facing the future, molecular breeding enterprises need to firmly grasp the opportunity of the transformation of the domestic breeding industry, plan the industrialization of molecular breeding in advance, increase the research and development efforts in the field of intelligent molecular design breeding technology, strengthen the investment in synthetic biology, multi-omics, genotype big data platform and other technologies, and promote the international development of China's seed industry.
In order to promote the rapid improvement of R&D capabilities of China's seed industry, on the one hand, it is recommended that seed enterprises complement each other's advantages through strong alliances and mergers and acquisitions, increase market share, and improve profitability through market advantages to feed back R&D investment of enterprises. On the other hand, strengthen R&D cooperation between enterprises or scientific research institutes, reduce R&D risks, improve the integration of breeding, breeding and promotion, and enhance the self-service innovation ability of enterprises by jointly building technology platforms and preparing for the establishment of joint breeding R&D platforms.
Intelligent molecular breeding requires a continuous reserve of compound talentsIntelligent molecular breeding is a comprehensive discipline that requires the cooperation of many talents to make intelligent molecular breeding a reality. At present, there is a great shortage of compound talents in the industry who understand both biological knowledge and computer technology.
Scientific research institutes bring together China's best breeding talents, to promote the construction of a new era of intelligent breeding system, it is necessary to promote the orderly flow of scientific research institutes to enterprises. At present, some provinces and cities in China are actively promoting the flow of scientific research personnel to enterprises. Taking Hunan as an example, the Hunan Provincial Bureau of Agriculture has implemented a number of policies in terms of talent introduction, talent resource allocation, personnel management, etc., and summed up the four modes of "retention service, part-time service, resignation service and own service", which has effectively opened up the channels for the flow of scientific research personnel to enterprises and provided R&D strength for enterprises.
Intellectual property protection is the "moat" for the development of the molecular breeding industryIntellectual property protection plays a pivotal role in the development of the molecular breeding industry, which can not only encourage innovation and attract investment, but also help maintain market order, encourage cooperation, and promote technology transfer. It is necessary to further improve relevant laws and regulations to create a good competitive environment for enterprises.
The organic combination of molecular breeding and agricultural digitalization promotes the intelligent transformation of agricultural developmentTechnological innovation in molecular breeding is the starting point of agricultural science and technology innovation, and agricultural digitalization is the amplifier for the realization of the value of molecular breeding technology. Facing the future, to promote China's agricultural science and technology innovation and industrial development, it is necessary to integrate molecular breeding technology with agricultural digitalization, promote the development of smart agriculture, rural areas and rural areas through digital transformation, and make molecular breeding an important part of rural revitalization, agricultural development, rural stability, and farmers' income increase.
Molecular breeding is the basic support to ensure the high-quality development of China's agriculture, and it is the focus of the continuous promotion of digitalization in agriculture, rural areas and rural areas. In 2023, the molecular breeding industry will usher in a significant commercialization process, and the current key technology breakthrough data element accumulation is taking place in an all-round way, and smart breeding is accumulating steadily. In the future, China will form an enterprise-centric, technology-driven, and service-oriented intelligent breeding with comprehensive development.
This article is from the European Network.