Today, the Chinese Academy of Sciences released important milestones achieved in the “Precise Seed Design and Creation” Class A pilot project. Since the launch of this project in November 2019, it has achieved a systematic breakthrough covering the entire chain of theory, technology, and products through the creation of a new paradigm of accurate design and breeding. Li Jiayang, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that after six years of research, the “Precise Seed Design and Creation” project has unearthed a number of key genes and regulatory networks such as high yield and high quality, efficient use of nitrogen, and resistance to stress and disease, including a nitrogen-efficient gene module for “losing weight without losing production” in rice and a broad-spectrum disease-resistant gene module that “resists disease without reducing production” in wheat, etc., and has built a strong national food security defense line. Since the implementation of the project, core technological innovations such as accurate genome editing and rapid domestication from scratch have also been realized. Researchers used independent gene editing tools to create a new disease-resistant, high-yield wheat germplasm. For the first time, heterologous tetraploid wild rice was rapidly domesticated from scratch. In addition, in these six years, the project has also created 37 design pilot varieties, and promoted a total of 14.48 million mu.

Today, the Chinese Academy of Sciences released important milestones achieved in the “Precise Seed Design and Creation” Class A pilot project. Since the launch of this project in November 2019, it has achieved a systematic breakthrough covering the entire chain of theory, technology, and products through the creation of a new paradigm of accurate design and breeding. Li Jiayang, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that after six years of research, the “Precise Seed Design and Creation” project has unearthed a number of key genes and regulatory networks such as high yield and high quality, efficient use of nitrogen, and resistance to stress and disease, including a nitrogen-efficient gene module for “losing weight without losing production” in rice and a broad-spectrum disease-resistant gene module that “resists disease without reducing production” in wheat, etc., and has built a strong national food security defense line. Since the implementation of the project, core technological innovations such as accurate genome editing and rapid domestication from scratch have also been realized. Researchers used independent gene editing tools to create a new disease-resistant, high-yield wheat germplasm. For the first time, heterologous tetraploid wild rice was rapidly domesticated from scratch. In addition, in these six years, the project has also created 37 design pilot varieties, and promoted a total of 14.48 million mu.