(Question from East to West) Lin Qiang: How does China Sea Dragon's scientific research results contribute to the international marine biodiversity resources?
China News Service, Guangzhou, November 29th. Title: Lin Qiang: How can China Hailong’s scientific research results give back to the international marine biodiversity resources?
China News Agency reporter Wang Jian
This year, the 4th World Sea Dragon Biology Conference hosted by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as "South China Sea Institute") was held in Guangzhou. This is currently the world's highest standard international academic seminar in the field of sea dragon research and protection.
The conference was held in China for the first time. Does the international academic community have a strong recognition of China's marine biology, especially the research results in the field of sea dragon fish?
What is the unique value and innovation of the research work of Chinese sea dragon fish?
Dr. Lin Qiang, a researcher at the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and chairman of the World Conference on Sea Dragon Biology, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service on the "East and West Questions" to give a detailed introduction and interpretation of the research results of Chinese sea dragons.
The summary of the interview record is as follows:
China News Agency reporter: There are many countries participating in the competition for the right to host this conference. What are the key advantages of the Chinese team that stands out?
Lin Qiang: In the field of sea dragon fish related research, looking at international peers, the Chinese research team is a veritable international "first echelon" and has always been highly concerned and recognized by peers. This should be the most important reason.
Traditionally, hippocampus has been favored in the Chinese market as a Chinese medicinal material, and it is also the focus of international attention.
As early as "Compendium of Materia Medica" and "Shen Nong Baicao" and other classic medical ancient books, the hippocampus was recorded as an important Chinese medicinal material.
Thanks to the huge domestic consumer market, China's seahorse breeding technology and scale are among the world's top.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that the international academic community is very supportive of the Chinese research team, which has a lot to do with the close substantive scientific research cooperation between China and foreign countries over the years.
Data map: On January 15, 2014, Shanghai Changfeng Ocean World Seahorse Breeding Science Exhibition Center began trial operation.
Image source: ICphoto
China News Agency reporter: Considering China's huge hippocampus consumer market, how does China ensure that market consumption and conservation work go hand in hand?
Lin Qiang: In the past ten years, China has made rapid progress in solving the problems of wild fishing and abuse. The government has issued a series of regulations to establish the seahorse as a second-level national protected animal, and legally “justify” the seahorse protection work, and strictly enforce it. Controlling wild fishing has vigorously cracked down on international smuggling trade.
In the past, fishermen along the coast of China accidentally caught wild seahorses for private consumption, but now they are released, reflecting the significant increase in public awareness of the protection of wild seahorses.
Of course, private protection institutions and academic research also contributed to the publicity of the people.
China News Agency reporter: What unique value does China's marine ecological conservation of sea dragon fish provide to the international academic community?
Lin Qiang: There are two values to the international academic community: First, it helps to change the international impression that China’s seahorses are “consumption more and less protection”, and let the world see important progress in the conservation of China’s sea dragons.
Second, China's seas (and the seas adjacent to Southeast Asia) are located at an important strategic position in the Asia-Pacific confluence area. There are many types and numbers of seahorses. The effectiveness of seahorse conservation work can provide a "model" for global sea dragon protection work.
China News Agency reporter: Can you give us an overall introduction to the development history of China's sea dragon fish research work, and what interactions have been made with the international academic community along the way?
Lin Qiang: The first is hippocampus breeding.
China has started seahorse farming since the 1950s, and the scale of farming currently ranks first in the world, and relevant experience and technology have been actively learned from overseas.
In the field of basic scientific research, after marine organisms entered the "genome era", China has also maintained a leading position.
In particular, it is worth mentioning that Sea Dragon is the only known male parenting species in the world, which is of great significance to the study of life evolution.
Our team is very active in this field. We have been preparing for the "Whole Genome" project of the hippocampus in 2012, until the results were published in 2016, establishing China's pioneering position in this field.
The work results of the Chinese team are very affirmed internationally. For example, the well-known American marine biologist Wilson commented that "this achievement will bring related fields into the 21st century" and has repeatedly promoted the Chinese research results in large public forums.
Of course, we need to humbly learn from the rich experience of foreign countries, especially countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom.
The American research team also has advantages in sample data. Some partners, such as Florida Institute of Technology, University of California, Texas A&M University, etc., have already had good cooperation and development with the Chinese research team.
Data map: On August 21, 2014, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Underwater World, Haima.
Image source: ICphoto
China News Agency reporter: The research on the hippocampus genome and its characteristics was published in "Nature" on December 15, 2016. Before and after the publication of the research results, are there other countries doing similar research?
What possibilities does this original scientific research innovation from China bring to promote the development of sea dragon fish and even the world's marine biology department?
Lin Qiang: Actually, there are some colleges and universities at home and abroad that have been engaged in related research, which can be regarded as a competitive relationship to some extent.
Of course, our team welcomes this.
The more peers compete, the more comprehensive and systematic the research on sea dragons will be.
This paper is very important for the research of sea dragon family fish, and brings this field into the era of big data.
Since the popularization of the Human Genome Project, most animals have successively carried out genome research. However, the sea dragon family has been lacking in data. The academic community can only observe the mechanism of "male pregnancy" in the animal kingdom from behavioral observations.
The emergence of our hippocampal genome has made it possible to analyze and discriminate specific genes from the molecular mechanism, and solve important problems in the field of evolution, including hippocampal male pregnancy.
Our hippocampus genome is the first complete genome established among more than 300 species in the sea dragon family, making it possible to compare the sea dragon family with other species horizontally.
This is very important for the research on the formation mechanism of marine biodiversity.
Currently, we are implementing a genome project for dozens of species of Hydrasidae, which is nearing completion.
The completion of this plan is believed to establish a research paradigm for the evolution of marine biodiversity and produce radiation effects.
China News Agency reporter: What effect will the current gene bank construction have on China's Hailongke biological conservation work?
What trends should China pay attention to in its marine ecological conservation work, and what other interactions may it have with the international community in the future?
Lin Qiang: The construction of gene banks will bring about powerful improvements to the soft and hard technologies of any species conservation, which not only contributes to targeted protection, but also greatly improves the efficiency of biological resource protection.
To be sure, the protection and sustainable use of marine life is of inestimable value to the future survival and development of mankind.
In the future, we may need to pay special attention to the protection of marine biodiversity, especially considering the large-scale impact of global changes and human activities.
In addition, the future construction of marine national parks is also a very constructive development direction.
(over)
About the interviewee:
Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Jimin
Lin Qiang, a researcher at the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, serves as the chairman of the 4th World Sea Dragon Biology Conference. He mainly studies marine biological resources and environmental adaptation, behavioral ecology and evolution, marine animal functional genomics, and was awarded as a young 863 scientist and outstanding Chinese Academy of Sciences. Young scientists etc.