Genetically modified food in China: time to reap what scientists sow?
Genetically modified food is a field in which China is globally competitive, but researchers say government hesitation is slowing growth
In contrast to China's usual modesty in academic matters, mainland scientists claim that genetically modified organisms, utilising recombinant DNA technology, is among the few fields in which China can claim to be globally competitive.
Genetically modified rice, in particular, is the achievement that China should be most proud of, they say. But they fear the government's persistent hesitation to commercialise their successes could make China's GM quest lose momentum.
A quarter of the world's top research papers on rice have been written by Chinese researchers, said Yan Jianbing, a corn genomics researcher at Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan .
"Agricultural biotechnology is one of the few technologies in which China is on an equal footing with the world's best," said Yan, who works at the university's laboratory of crop genetic improvement, a key GMO research facility designated by the central government.
With vast funding and a big team, China was ready to bring to market an insect-resistant transgenic rice it developed on its own a decade ago, said Zhu Zhen, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Bureau of Life Sciences and Biotechnology.