Agricultural biotechnology has become a powerful driving force for the new agricultural science and technology revolution. It not only plays a major role in realizing the leap from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture, but also will become the solution to food security, ecological environment, and resource protection in this century. It is an effective means to solve major social and economic problems and is becoming a new economic growth point. Agricultural biotechnology has shown its huge potential in transforming and upgrading traditional agriculture and agricultural product processing industries. Biotechnology and its industry are showing a trend of accelerated development. 1. Genetically modified crops have begun to move toward large-scale promotion and application. Currently, internationally insect-resistant, disease-resistant, herbicide-resistant genetically modified cotton, corn, soybeans, rapeseed, etc. have entered the stage of large-scale commercial application. The area planted with genetically modified crops around the world surged from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 67.7 million hectares in 2003, and to 81 million hectares in 2004, an increase of 20% from the previous year. It was the ninth consecutive year of double-digit growth and the eighth consecutive year of growth. The number of countries planting genetically modified crops increased from 6 to 18 in 2003. According to preliminary statistics, there are more than 120 new crop varieties cultivated using genetically modified technology in 35 families around the world. More than 5,400 genetically modified crops have entered field trials, and more than 50 genetically modified crops have entered the market. Some experts predict that the area of ??genetically modified crops around the world will increase significantly in the next five years. In 2010, 50% of the world's farmland will be planted with genetically modified crops, and this will increase to 80% by 2020. It can be seen that the global development of genetically modified plants is very rapid. 2. Molecular breeding technology for animals and plants is becoming increasingly mature and widely used. The combination of modern molecular biology and traditional animal and plant breeding science has given rise to the emerging science of molecular breeding. Molecular marker-assisted selective breeding uses molecular markers or functional genes linked to important economic traits to improve Modern molecular breeding techniques for plant and animal species. In recent years, due to the uncertainty of the impact of genetically modified organisms on the ecological environment and human health, molecular marker-assisted selection technology has become one of the hot topics. Molecular marker-assisted selection technology has the outstanding advantages of high efficiency and safety, and has shown that some conventional breeding cannot Therefore, animal and plant gene identification and molecular marker-assisted selection technology have become one of the important fields in the current development of biotechnology. 3． Genomics research has developed from "structural genome" to "functional genome". The rise of genomics is a new milestone in the development of life sciences. In recent years, the entire genome sequence of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the rice genome sequencing framework have been completed, providing a good platform and foundation for the study of plant functional genes. On November 15, 2003, Southwest Agricultural University and the Beijing Institute of Genomics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences completed the drawing of the "framework map" of the Chinese silkworm genome and announced it in October 2004. This is the first independent work done by Chinese scientists using shotgun sequencing so far. The largest biological species genome and the world's first working framework diagram of the silkworm genome. The silkworm genome is estimated to be about 450 Mb in size and contains more than 20,000 genes, of which about 6,000 are newly discovered. my country has independently carried out structural gene research on pigs, and the chicken genome sequencing project in collaboration with the United States and Britain will also be completed in the near future. 4. Research on transgenic animals, somatic cell cloning and bioreactor technologies has progressed rapidly. The birth of the world's first somatic cell cloned sheep, "Dolly", in 1997 marked a major breakthrough in animal nuclear transfer technology, which immediately set off various high-tech research. The culmination of animal replication research. The success of cloning technology not only has great theoretical significance, but also has huge application potential in allogeneic organ transplantation, cloning of cells and tissues for treatment, livestock breeding, transgenic animal reactors, and the protection of endangered and rare animals. The research and development of bioreactors that use transgenic plants and animal organs and tissues to efficiently express and produce active functional proteins have also made significant progress in recent years.
CaroRxTM (sIgA) expressed in tobacco can effectively eliminate Streptococcus mutans and prevent dental caries, and is the first antibody produced in plants for clinical use. The use of plant bioreactors to produce recombinant protein products has the advantages of high product activity and low production costs. Therefore, the use of plants with high protein yields and high bioactive substance yields, such as tobacco, soybeans, rapeseed, etc., to develop livestock disease vaccine products is promising. 5. Agricultural microbial genetic engineering research is giving birth to new breakthroughs. In recent years, the rapid development and widespread application of research methods, research progress in genome and molecular biology have provided an effective technical platform for the improvement, cloning and expression of agricultural microbial functional genes. It provides effective technical support for the research of biological "three drugs". Research on agricultural microorganisms for purposes such as pest and disease control, fertilizer saving and yield increase, feed and food additives, and environmental pollutant degradation have reached the molecular level. Biotechnology has become an effective means for microbial genetic improvement and the development of a new generation of microbial products. 6． The competition for genetic resources is becoming increasingly fierce. Due to the non-renewable nature of animal and plant genetic resources, biological genetic resources have developed into strategic resources for international competition and national development. "Establishing intellectual property wealth with biogenes as the core so that it can more effectively enter the changing global biotechnology market" has become an important part of the national science and technology development strategies of various countries. After the completion of the genome sequencing project of model animals and plants, competition for important functional genes and resources of animals and plants has become one of the symbols of competition in the bioeconomy and gene industry. While countries around the world are vigorously strengthening the collection and preservation of animal and plant species resources, they are also developing genetic resources. Rapid and effective development and utilization are also given great importance. The competition for biological resources by some multinational biotechnology companies is particularly fierce, and the core of this is the competition for genes. 7. Investment in science and technology continues to grow, the industrialization process accelerates, and the "bioeconomy" is beginning to take shape. In the past 10 years, investment in the development of agricultural biotechnology by countries around the world has increased tenfold. It is expected that the total investment in this field by developed countries will reach more than 200 billion US dollars before 2010. Private enterprises such as multinational corporations have further enhanced their competitiveness through restructuring and mergers and acquisitions, and have gradually become the main body of agricultural biotechnology research and development. As an emerging high-tech industry, agricultural biotechnology has formed and entered a period of rapid development. 8. Significant progress has been made in biomass energy research, and the production technology of bioenergy has been basically mature. Many domestic private enterprises have successively developed biodiesel production technologies with independent intellectual property rights and built production plants with an annual output of more than 10,000 tons. The main product indicators are close to foreign technical standards to varying degrees. These companies mainly use traditional chemical methods to produce biodiesel from recycled waste oil and a small amount of woody oils and vegetable oils. During the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, my country has mastered the enzymatic biodiesel production technology, which is considered to be an environmentally friendly new technology that is expected to replace chemical methods in the near future. In terms of plant cultivation of biodiesel raw materials, my country has applied genetic engineering technology to breed new strains of genetically modified rapeseed and soybeans with oil contents as high as 53 and 25, established a high-oil forest planting and production base, and made great achievements in the cultivation and improvement of high-oil algae. made significant progress. 9. The development of agriculture and rural economy has an increasing demand for the development of biotechnology. Biotechnology will ensure food security, improve the competitiveness of international trade of agricultural products, improve the agricultural industrial structure, accelerate the cultivation of new varieties of crops, forestry and grass, and develop renewable biomass. Provide strong theoretical basis and technical support for solving key issues in modern agriculture such as energy, biomass materials and biopharmaceuticals. The application of biotechnology in ecological and environmental protection has been a research and development hotspot in recent years and will become a new economic growth point; biotechnology provides new means to transform and upgrade the agricultural and food intensive processing industry, protect human health, and promote the development of emerging industries. is developing vigorously; the combination and penetration of biotechnology with other high-tech has become a new trend in the current development of biotechnology; the overall level of biotechnology research in my country is constantly improving, industrialization has begun to take shape, and it has the basis and conditions to participate in international competition. .
10. The international competition in agricultural biotechnology is becoming increasingly fierce. Modern international competition has increasingly evolved into a competition for comprehensive national strength supported by technology, so technological development has risen to a strategic level. In order to ensure international competitiveness, countries generally support and encourage the research and development of strategically significant technologies, and biotechnology has become the core of world agricultural and scientific and technological competition. New agricultural genes will play a decisive role in the future development of the biotechnology industry. In order to compete for a larger agricultural product market, obtaining genes with independent intellectual property rights has become the focus of competition among various countries. In the 1960s and 1970s, the United States identified genes resistant to soybean cyst nematodes from a local Shanghai soybean germplasm resource provided by my country that was considered to have the least utilization value, and developed disease-resistant varieties. Within 20 years, it quickly replaced my country's position and became the world's largest country in soybean planting, production and trade. However, our country was once in the embarrassing situation of infringing the patent rights of the United States by planting Chinese soybeans.