The "demonization" of genetically modified rice has made the first person in China's GM rice research into a vortex of public opinion.
Journalist Xu Chao Li Hujun |
In the eyes of many, he is a hero of China's research and promotion of genetically modified technology; at the same time, in the eyes of another group, he is also a "great traitor" who sells the interests of the nation and the nation.
He is a professor at Huazhong Agricultural University who is at the forefront of research on GM rice in China.
In August 2009, the two genetically modified rice varieties of the Zhang Heili research team took the lead in obtaining a production and application safety certificate issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, and took a key step in the commercialization of genetically modified rice.
At this point, Zhang He’s experience has gone through hardships.
Green Super Rice Dream
Zhang Qilu is a Hubei public security person. In 1985, Zhang Qiu received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis, and his mentor was Robert Allard, a member of the American Academy of Sciences and chairman of the American Genetics Society.
The following year, Zhang Qihui returned to Huazhong Agricultural University. The "Hubei Daily" reported in 2004 that when he was the president of Huazhong Agricultural University, Professor Sun Jizhong made a decision and invested 100,000 yuan to start the capital when he was inspired.
Gradually, Zhang Qihui did not lack research funding. According to the aforementioned report, the funding for scientific research that Zhang Qifang presided over at the National Key Laboratory once accounted for one-third of the entire Huazhong Agricultural University.
Zhang Qilu caught up with China when it was time to develop GMO technology. The Chinese government has invested hundreds of millions of research funding in breeding genetically modified organisms over the years. The new varieties of genetically modified organisms launched in 2008 will nurture major science and technology projects, and the investment will be as much as more than 20 billion yuan. Many scientists believe that the breeding of genetically modified organisms can benefit the general public and have important implications for China's food security. Professor Zhang Jianfa's colleague Professor Lin Yongjun of Huazhong Agricultural University gave an example: In recent years, droughts have occurred in many places in China. If drought genes are found, "it is very rare, and it is possible to win the Nobel Prize."
On the basis of the study of transgenic insect-resistant rice, Zhang Heming lost no time in proposing the dream of “green super riceâ€: the future of transgenic technology will not only help achieve high yields of rice, but also “do fewer pesticides, less fertilizer, drought and water saving.†"High quality and high yields" minimize the impact on the ecology.
In 1999, Zhang Qiwei, only 45 years old, was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It was also in this year that Zhang Qiwei's team developed transgenic rice and began to target industrialization.