Being the Pioneer of Life Sciences in China: —Introduction to Beijing Genomics Institute

Zhang, Xin

After the 1% sequencing task of HGP, we realized that to be the first-class genomics institute in the world, we must depend on our own biological resources of China. The hybrid rice bred by Prof. Longping Yuan, academician of CAS, has a wide influence in China and Southeast Asia; indica rice and its hybrid varieties account for 80% of farmed rice in the world. Therefore, we launched the Chinese Super Hybrid Rice Genome Project in May 2000 on the basis of the staple food plant of China—the indica rice and its hybrid varieties. The working draft sequence of the indica rice genome was announced in October 2001 and published in Science in April 2002. In December 2002, the completion of the fine map of the indica rice genome was announced. Its significance on agriculture can be compared with that of HGP on human health. By analyzing the complete genome sequence of rice, we can get a great deal of genetic information and function genes relating to the good properties of rice, promote the upgrade of rice, and cultivate new breeds of higher yield and quality. It is also helpful to understand the relative genes in the genome of other important crops like wheat and corn, thus promote the basic research and application of the whole food plant.