Transgenic revolution
Since the cultivation of crops, human beings have never stopped the genetic improvement of crops. In the past, this has been a long and uncertain process, but with the continuous breakthrough of genomics research and biotechnology, many scientists believe that the application of transgenic technology to improve crop varieties will trigger a second green agricultural revolution. However, this new thing has been accompanied by controversy since its birth. What is transgenic technology? Are genetically modified Foods safe? There may never be a single answer.
Transform agriculture by the hand of God
Phenotypes of TEV after infection with transgenic and wild-type tobacco (Lindbo et al., 1993). The photos were taken 5 weeks after TEV infection. 1, 2, and 3 represent old leaves to new leaves. The results showed that TEV infected wild-type tobacco Burley 49 (bottom left) and infected plants with full-length TEV coat protein genes (top left), where the latter grew new leaves with fewer viruses and fewer symptoms than the old leaves, and the transgenic plants were overall more disease-resistant than the wild-type plants. In 1983, the world's first transgenic plant-antiviral transgenic tobacco was born in the United States, marking the beginning of human use of transgenic technology to improve crops. At that time, some people exclaimed, "Mankind has begun to have a pair of 'God's hands' to create new creatures."
Transgenic technology to improve crops is a new technology, but it is in the same line with traditional breeding technology, essentially through the acquisition of good genes for genetic improvement.
In general, traditional breeding technology can only achieve gene transfer between individuals within biological species. The hybrid rice invented by Academician Yuan Longping is a hybrid of wild rice and rice, which belong to the same genus of rice. The genes transferred by transgenic technology are not limited by the relationship between organisms, and can not only cross different types, but also cross the threshold of large organisms such as genus, class, gate and realm, so as to realize the gene transfer between plants, animals and microorganisms.
The advantage of transgenic technology over traditional breeding technology is also due to its improvement accuracy. The operation object of traditional hybridization and selection technology is the whole genome, and thousands of genes are transferred at one time, which can not accurately operate and select a gene, and the performance of the offspring is poor. What transgenic technology operates and transfers is clearly defined genes, with clear functions and clear goals, and the performance of future generations can be accurately expected, truly realizing "what you sow, what you sow".
At present, transgenic technology is widely used in improving crop resistance and improving crop quality.
Transgenic crop technology in China
It is predicted that by 2030, China's population will reach 1.6 billion, and in the next 20 years, China's crop yield will need to increase by 50% on the current basis to meet the demand by then. The maturity of transgenic technology will be able to produce a batch of agricultural products with a variety of high-quality traits to alleviate China's food problem.
China's research and development of GM technology began in the 1980s, and so far, eight genetically modified plants have received agricultural GMO safety certificates. In 2010, China planted 3.5 million hectares of GM insect-resistant cotton and about 5,000 hectares of GM disease-resistant papaya, as well as a small number (453 hectares) of GM insect-resistant poplar trees. China currently ranks sixth in the world in terms of area planted with GM crops.
In 2010, the No. 1 document of the Central Committee clearly stated that "continue to implement major scientific and technological projects for the cultivation of new varieties of genetically modified organisms, pay close attention to the development of functional genes and new varieties of organisms with important application value and independent intellectual property rights, and promote the industrialization of new varieties of genetically modified organisms on the basis of scientific evaluation and legal management."
By 2010, China had approved more than 200 varieties of genetically modified insect-resistant cotton, and the planting rate of insect-resistant cotton in Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Anhui and other major cotton-producing provinces had reached 95 percent. The country's total promotion and planting of 21 million hectares had increased the output value by more than 44 billion yuan and farmers' income by 25 billion yuan.
According to the experimental observation in six provinces and cities in North China for 15 years, it has been proved that the application of insect-resistant cotton not only has effectively controlled the cotton bollworm, but also greatly reduced the harm of corn, soybean, peanut and other crop pests, the amount of insecticide has been reduced by 70% to 80%, and has produced good ecological benefits.
Are genetically modified Foods safe?
The rapid development of transgenic crop technology has shown us the vitality of this new technology, but it has also caused some concerns. People can not help but ask, genetically modified crops from research and development to large-scale commercial production time only more than 30 years, especially these crops also include our most commonly consumed rice, soybeans, corn and other food crops, as the saying goes, disease from the mouth, eating genetically modified food will not be a risky behavior?
In fact, the development and safety management of genetically modified products are almost synchronized. In 1990, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) established a food safety assessment procedure related to biotechnology. Since 2003, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), which was jointly established by the two, has adopted four standards related to the food safety evaluation of Gmos.
In terms of specific safety tests, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture issued the agricultural industry standard "90-day feeding test of rats for food safety test of genetically modified plants and their products" in 2006, which is equivalent to 1/8 of the entire life cycle of rats. In addition, the long-term safety of consumption was evaluated by using super-constant experiments that greatly exceeded the conventional consumption dose.
For the controversial insect-resistant transgenic rice, the biggest question people have is: Can people eat it if the insects don't eat it? Bt protein in insect-resistant transgenic rice is a highly specific insecticidal protein, which can only bind to intestinal specific receptors of specific pests such as borers and produce toxic effects, resulting in the death of pests.
In mammals such as humans, there is no binding site for this protein on the surface of intestinal cells. And because the human gastric juice is strongly acidic, Bt protein into the stomach, under the action of the gastric juice within a few seconds all degradation, can be used by mammals into nutrients, so it will not cause harm to the human body.
Moreover, the biological Bacillus thuringiensis, the source of Bt protein, has been found for more than 100 years, the record of the safe use of Bt preparations as biological insecticides has been more than 70 years, and the large-scale planting and application of Bt gene corn, Bt gene cotton and other crops has been more than 15 years, so far there have been no reports of Bt protein causing allergies or toxic reactions.
The new birth of genetically modified crops in China
On December 25, 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued a document approving the issuance of crop seed production and operation licenses for 85 enterprises, including 37 genetically modified corn varieties and 10 genetically modified soybean varieties from 26 enterprises. This is the first time that China has approved seed production and operation licenses for genetically modified corn and soybeans. In other words, the industrialization of genetically modified food crops, which has been the focus of public opinion for many years, has finally opened the gate. Despite some "quiet" public opinion, this opening has been a series of preparations in recent years.
In 2021, China will launch pilot projects for the industrialization of genetically modified corn and soybeans, which will be carried out in scientific research experimental fields. In 2022, it will expand to farmers' fields in Inner Mongolia and Yunnan. In 2023, the pilot will be extended to more provinces and seed production will be arranged in Gansu. On December 7, 2023, 37 GM corn varieties and 14 GM soybean varieties were approved. Therefore, the approval of the license for the production and operation of genetically modified seeds is only a preliminary step.
After years of stagnation, why these years of acceleration?
One background stands out: food security.
A joint statement issued in February 2023 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Food Programme and the World Trade Organization underscores the urgency of this global issue: disruptions in global supply chains, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial crunch caused by rising interest rates, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have caused unprecedented shocks to the global food system.
The second is that China imports a lot of corn and soybeans.
China's soybean imports account for more than 60% of the world's soybean trade, while imports from Brazil, the United States and Argentina account for more than 90% of the total imports. Corn imports have been high at more than 20 million tons in recent years, mainly dependent on the United States, Brazil and Ukraine. This means that under the volatile international situation, the risks and hidden dangers of the corn and soybean supply chain are prominent.
According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, from the pilot, the control effect of GM corn and GM soybean on lepidoptera pests such as Armyworm is more than 90%, and the weeding effect is more than 95%. Increased production by 5.6% to 11.6%.
How can you throw away something so powerful? Moreover, as a high-tech, biological breeding is the only way for the world seed industry. In this sense, the acceleration of the industrialization of genetically modified food crops is inevitable. To seize the transgenic track and enhance international competitiveness is an inevitable and necessary choice.
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