In today's highly developed biotechnology, germplasm resources have become an important strategic resource and one of the indicators to measure comprehensive national strength, which is related to national sovereignty and security——
Wildlife germplasm resources, the defense war under the crisis
【Ecology topic】
Due to the increasing impact of human activities and global climate change on the earth's environment, the habitats and habitats on which many wild creatures depend for survival have been severely damaged, and the germplasm resources of wild creatures are facing unprecedented crises, threatening the sustainable development of human society.
In December 2020, the Central Economic Work Conference will resolve the seed and arable land issues as one of the eight key tasks in 2021.
The meeting clearly stated that it is necessary to strengthen the protection and utilization of germplasm resources, and strengthen the construction of seed banks; it is necessary to carry out technical breakthroughs in the "stuck neck" of seed sources, and is determined to fight a turnaround in the seed industry.
It can be seen that germplasm resources are not only the source for the development of the seed industry, but also the foundation of the sustainable development of human society.
Formulating reasonable germplasm resource protection strategies and strengthening the protection, maintenance and sustainable use of biodiversity are related to national economic development and social stability.
Common practice: in situ + ex situ conservation, attach importance to the collection of wild biological germplasm resources
Biodiversity protection is inseparable from the protection of wildlife germplasm resources.
Most of the various policies, strategic plans and specific action plans formulated to strengthen biodiversity protection directly guide the management and protection of wild biological germplasm resources.
The series of protection strategies adopted for the germplasm resources of wild life embodies the measures to protect biodiversity from the three levels of ecosystem, species and genetics.
In situ conservation (in situ conservation) and ex situ conservation are two major strategies for the protection of wildlife germplasm resources.
In situ conservation not only preserves the germplasm resource entity, but also preserves its in situ and habitat and companion species, and continues to play the service function of the ecosystem. In theory, it is the best protection strategy.
However, in the face of ever-increasing man-made activities and global changes, in-situ conservation has a series of problems such as insufficient protection area, insufficient response capacity, and absence of key species in protected areas.
In this case, ex situ conservation is another important method to preserve the provenance of wild species.
Traditional ex situ conservation methods, such as botanical gardens, zoos, and germplasm nurseries, are challenging in terms of preserving the effectiveness of rare alleles and increasing the genetic diversity of species, and the maintenance costs are high.
There are many difficulties in the preservation and propagation of some special types of germplasm resources (especially animal The preservation of germplasm resources is considered to be the most cost-effective ex situ conservation strategy.
For animal resources, using technical means such as freezing sperm and embryos, or separating and culturing primary cells and freezing them, is also a germplasm resource preservation strategy that can be adopted.
Practice in China: Improve laws and regulations and preservation systems, coordinate and promote resource and information sharing
As one of the parties to the "Convention on Biological Diversity", the Chinese government has since attached great importance to the protection of biodiversity, established the National Committee for the Conservation of Biodiversity of China chaired by national leaders, and issued the "China Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and The Action Plan (2011-2030) clearly defined mid- and long-term strategic goals, delineated priority areas for biodiversity protection, and identified a series of priority areas and actions for protection.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, my country has incorporated "ecological civilization construction" into the overall development layout, put forward the vision of building a beautiful China, gradually realized the legalization of biodiversity management, and issued a series of laws and regulations, built a batch of preservation facilities, and implemented resources. And sharing of information.
In terms of policies and regulations, the state has formulated and improved relevant management systems and measures for the protection of biological germplasm resources, and successively promulgated laws and regulations such as the Seed Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Regulations on the Protection of Wild Plants of the People’s Republic of China, and the Biosafety Law of the People’s Republic of China. .
In accordance with the "Global Plant Conservation Strategy", a strategic plan and implementation action plan were formulated, and the "China Plant Conservation Strategy 2021-2030" was first issued to establish a management system and protection system for wild biological germplasm resources.
At the same time, the relevant state departments are carrying out the legislative work of the Regulations on the Administration of the Access to and Benefit Sharing of Biological Genetic Resources, and plans to further regulate the access and benefit sharing of biological genetic resources.
In terms of in-situ conservation, through the construction of a natural reserve system with national parks as the main body, promote the in-situ conservation of wild biological germplasm resources.
As of the end of 2020, the total number of nature reserves in my country has reached 11,800, accounting for about 18% of my country's land area. To some extent, it has protected 85% of my country's wild animal populations and 65% of higher plant communities.
In terms of ex situ conservation, relying on the "Southwest China Wildlife Germplasm Bank" constructed by the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the only comprehensive preservation facility in my country that focuses on the preservation of wild biological germplasm resources.
As of December 2020, the resource bank has preserved 10,601 species of plant seeds (36% of the number of seed plant species in my country) 85046 copies, 2203 species of animal germplasm resources, 60262 copies, 2280 species of microbial strains, 22,800 copies, and wild biological germplasm resources The storage volume ranks first in Asia.
Germplasm resources, as the basic materials for technological innovation and bioindustrial revolution, in addition to continuing to carry out the standardization, standardization, and targeted collection and preservation of resources, they are gradually transforming to open sharing and special services through the organization and integration of resources and the construction of platforms.
Since 1999, my country has gradually promoted and continued to support the investigation and collection of domestic germplasm resources through the implementation of special scientific and technological basic work and the construction of scientific and technological basic conditions platform.
The “Investigation of Plant Germplasm Resources in Main Swamps and Wetlands in China”, “Investigation of Wild Economic Plant Resources in the Northeast Forest Area” and “Comprehensive Scientific Investigation of Biodiversity in Dabie Mountains” all involve the investigation, collection and preservation of wild plant germplasm resources. Officially launched in 2020.
The national science and technology resource sharing service platform led by the Ministry of Science and Technology covers the construction of important wild plants, crops, forest trees, livestock and poultry, microorganisms and other biological germplasm resource libraries, and promotes standard setting, resource integration and advantages in related fields Complementary, and through the construction of a shared platform, the scattered scientific and technological resources will be centralized and organized to promote shared services.
Future vision: strengthen top-level design, carry out forward-looking planning and strategic layout
Strengthening the top-level design is the basic guarantee to ensure that my country's wild biological germplasm resources are comprehensively and systematically protected, and to play a role for future use.
my country's agricultural-based germplasm resource bank started earlier and took a long time to build, providing important resources and technical support for the country's economic development.
From a global perspective, large-scale wildlife germplasm resource conservation facilities are concentrated in developed countries. In addition to the guarantee of national economic strength, it also reflects the forward-looking planning and strategic layout of these countries for the development of science and technology and innovation.
Based on the natural advantages of the region, the Southwest China Wildlife Germplasm Resource Bank mainly focuses on the country’s key scientific issues in the fields of resources, ecology, biotechnology, etc., so as to enhance the country’s ability to implement international conventions and win participation or even leadership in major international research projects. Take the initiative, and systematically provide consultation and decision-making basis for national industry departments and local governments through the collection of physical objects, data and technology.
For this reason, it should continue to adhere to its layout of collection and preservation of wild biological germplasm resources.
For resource types that are relatively mature in conservation theory and technology and have significant protection effects, it is necessary to stabilize and enhance the operational capabilities of the facility library.
Some resources that cannot be conserved on a large scale due to technical barriers that have not been broken through must also be actively planned and gradually promoted to form a total advantage through long-term accumulation.
my country has promulgated and implemented a series of laws, regulations and departmental rules and regulations related to biological genetic resources, providing a certain legal basis for the protection and utilization of wild biological germplasm resources, but the current legislation does not provide for a benefit-sharing system.
As a party to the "Nagoya Protocol", my country drafted the "Regulations on the Management of the Access and Benefit Sharing of Biological Genetic Resources (Draft)" to clarify the management measures for the acquisition of biological germplasm resources/genetic resources, entry and exit, and benefit sharing.
The promulgation and implementation of the regulations should be promoted as soon as possible, and while protecting the national strategic biological resources, the application value of wild biological germplasm resources should be actively brought into play.
In terms of national security, the entry and exit management of wildlife germplasm resources will receive greater attention with the globalization of trade and the construction of the “Belt and Road”. International law enforcement cooperation on wildlife germplasm resources should be strengthened, and law enforcement agencies and scientific research entities should establish resources. The entry-exit cooperation linkage mechanism strengthens the cooperation and co-construction in the inspection or quarantine isolation platform.
Under the premise of safeguarding national interests, separate management of scientific research and commercial germplasm resources, simplify the inspection and quarantine procedures for genetic resources that have lost their vitality (such as wax leaf specimens, soaked specimens, etc.), and speed up wild species for scientific research Speed of entry of germplasm resources, and reduction or exemption of tariffs, so that my country can develop and utilize overseas biological germplasm resources.
Insufficient investment in related basic theoretical research and technical methods has become a bottleneck restricting the collection, preservation, evaluation and utilization of germplasm resources in my country.
Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the research on the mechanism of different types of wild biological germplasm resources in the process of germplasm degradation or death to provide a new theoretical basis for the preservation of resources; expand the application of emerging technologies and methods such as seed banks, cryopreservation technologies, and artificial intelligence Practice provides a new technical route for the effective preservation of germplasm resources.
Facing the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and the vision of "jointly building a community of life on earth", my country's wildlife germplasm resources protection work has a long way to go.
It is recommended that the state start the construction of the second phase of the wild biological germplasm resource bank as soon as possible, increase R&D investment, and realize the leap from seed to seed industry; at the same time, develop the scientific theory of wild biological germplasm and lead the innovation and development of the wild biological preservation technology system to be effective The implementation of the International Convention on Biodiversity provides strong support and promotes the development of the biological industry, the construction of ecological civilization and the construction of a beautiful China.
(Author: Li Dezhu, a researcher at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Director of the Wildlife Germplasm Bank of Southwest China)