Recently, the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft return capsule opened in Beijing. Yunnan Provincial Government, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Government, Shaanxi Yulin Municipal Government, China Agricultural University, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, and Zhongnongfa Seed Industry Group Co., Ltd. The crop seeds carried by the company, the Aerospace Breeding Industry Innovation Alliance and other units were successfully transported out of the cabin.

  What kind of seeds can get the precious "ship tickets" for space travel?

When a seed enters the vast space, what kind of wonderful journey will it experience?

How will the "chosen seed" change our lives?

The reporter interviewed relevant units and experts to decipher space breeding.

  About 12,000 seeds will return to Earth on Shenzhou 13. Only seeds with high genetic stability and good comprehensive traits can stand out and "swam in space"

  The Shenzhou 13 returned to the cabin with the big bottom facing down and the cabin door facing up. The staff in white overalls carefully climbed the ladder, climbed into the cabin, and handed the square packages wrapped in white cloth to those outside the cabin one by one. staff member.

After the registration and other handover work is done, these packages will be "returned to the original owners".

  The package contained a single seed.

It is reported that this time around 12,000 seeds were returned to Earth on Shenzhou 13 along with three astronauts.

  "As far as medicinal plants are concerned, this time Shenzhou 13 brought back 10 kinds of Yunnan characteristic Chinese herbal medicine seeds, including Yunmuxiang, Dendrobium officinale, Tianma, Coix seed, weighing 61.8 grams." Medicinal Plants of Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences Li Rongfu, director of the institute, told reporters that the space-carrying samples that Yunnan selected for this time are mainly "ten cloud medicines" and Yunnan characteristic Chinese medicinal materials. Long-term storage is carried out in the warehouse, and the remaining seeds are cultivated and cultivated in the field according to relevant technical specifications.

  Previously, the Shenzhou 12 spacecraft carried 5 kinds of Chinese herbal medicine seeds including Yundanggui, Dengzhanhua and Caoguo, as well as 262 morel strains and 22 lactic acid strains.

"At present, researchers are carrying out breeding research work, and some seedlings of Chinese medicinal materials have been cultivated. All the morel strains returned from the transport have survived, and some of the fruiting strains have shown many excellent characters. 16 lactic acid bacteria strains have been rejuvenated, of which 11 have been Carry out strain registration patent preservation." Li Rongfu said.

  It is understood that Yunnan began its space breeding related work around 2012. In the multiple launch missions of Shenzhou 9, Shenzhou 10, Tiangong 2, Shenzhou 11, and Shijian 10, Chinese herbal medicines, flowers and walnuts were selected and sent. , coffee, Pu-erh tea and more than 100 varieties of seeds, branches, and strains "ride" into space, totaling more than 5,400 grams.

  The Shenzhou 13 returned not only the seeds of Chinese herbal medicines, but also the seeds of various plants such as rice, edible fungi and lettuce.

They come from different regions and units, and some focus on basic research, while others focus on variety cultivation.

  "Relying on the Space Breeding Industry Innovation Alliance, we carried 21 seeds of forage grasses such as alfalfa, oat, wheatgrass intermedia, and red clover, totaling 158 grams." The Stress-resistant Forage Breeding and Utilization Team of Lanzhou Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Chief expert Yang Hongshan introduced that after selecting forages such as alfalfa and oats, they determined the varieties or new strains to be carried according to the breeding goals, and selected high-quality seeds that were full and undamaged, so as to improve the normal performance of the seeds after returning to Earth from space. chance of germination.

  Spacecraft payload resources are precious, and every gram must be maximized.

Therefore, the threshold for seeds to enter space is not low. Only those with high genetic stability and good comprehensive traits can stand out and start the journey of "space breeding".

  Space breeding requires both "going to the sky" and "going to the ground". The biggest advantage is that the mutation rate is high and the breeding cycle is short, which can create germplasm resources with excellent traits in a relatively short period of time.

  Space breeding, also known as space breeding and space mutation breeding, is to use the special environment of space to induce genetic mutation of plant seeds, and then select new plant varieties, create agricultural breeding materials, and enrich genetic resources. It is a high-tech combined with disciplines such as breeding and genetics.

To put it simply, the process of letting seeds "go to the sky" and then "go to the ground", through screening, hybridization, identification, etc., to finally form new germplasm resources is space breeding.

  "Space has a microgravity environment and charged high-energy particles. The seeds and biological materials we carry will mutate when exposed to weak radiation. Using this mutation carried in space, we can go back to the ground for planting, and select those that can be planted on the ground. Genetic variation that meets our human requirements, and then bred into new varieties." Chen Zhiqiang, director of the National Plant Space Breeding Engineering Technology Research Center, explained.

  Compared with traditional breeding techniques, the biggest advantage of space breeding is that the mutation rate of space mutagenized materials is high and the breeding cycle is short, and germplasm resources with excellent traits such as high yield, early maturity and disease resistance can be created in a relatively short period of time.

  "In the past, it might take ten or twenty years to find a new breeding material, or even go over mountains to find natural mutant plants, but space missions can bring back a lot of mutant materials in a relatively short period of time." Innovation in the space breeding industry Zhao Hui, secretary-general of the alliance and former chief engineer of aerospace biology at the China Academy of Space Technology, said that aerospace mutation provides breeders with as much genetic material as possible and presses the "shortcut key" for breeding.

In terms of safety, space breeding without introducing any foreign genes and conventional radiation mutation breeding, both of which are changes in the plant's own genome sequence, produce products that are equally safe.

  "We do space breeding mainly because the traditional breeding of Chinese medicinal materials is time-consuming and expensive." Li Rongfu said that Chinese medicinal materials are an important industry in Yunnan, but their variety breeding technology is relatively lagging behind compared with traditional crops.

Under the background of increasing demand for Chinese medicinal materials and limited wild medicinal resources, space breeding technology can speed up the process of variety selection and artificial large-scale planting, enrich the germplasm resource bank of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, and promote the development of the traditional Chinese medicinal materials industry.

  However, spaceflight mutagenesis is somewhat similar to "opening the blind box".

"In the process of mutagenesis, why, when, and what kind of genetic material of seeds changes, there is great randomness and uncontrollability." Zhao Hui said that before the actual cultivation, no one could Know what mutations are present in the seeds.

But on the whole, in the space environment, seeds may have a large variation range, many mutation points, and stronger mutation stability.

  Mutagenesis is random, and traits can be good or bad, so ground breeding is critical.

Ground breeding requires multiple generations of screening and cultivation, and the selection of the best among the best.

  "From the return of seeds to ground planting, to the cultivation of new varieties, the breeding years of different plants are different. According to the breeding program, it takes more than 10 years to cultivate a new variety of alfalfa. Oats are annual plants, and the time will be reduced by 2 to 3 years." Yang Hongshan said.

  Taking the Chinese herbal medicine Dian gentian as an example, "Starting from the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft carrying Dian gentian seeds in June 2013, the experimental process of tissue culture, selection, propagation, and planting lasted 7 years, and finally selected high-quality, high-yield, The highly resistant 'Dian Gentian Aerospace No. 1', 'Dian Gentian Aerospace No. 2' and 'Dian Gentian Aerospace No. 3' have been recognized as the National Breeding Base of Chinese Medicinal Materials." Li Xuelin, President of Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences Say.

  my country's space breeding began in 1987. At present, more than 260 varieties have been cultivated, with an annual promotion area of ​​more than 40 million mu and direct economic benefits of more than 200 billion yuan.

  "The manned space project can promote the upgrading of related industries, promote economic and social development, and be closely related to the national economy and people's livelihood while developing itself." After the return of Shenzhou 13, Hao Chun, director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, made progress in the construction of the space station said at the press conference.

  Aerospace serves the national economy and people's livelihood, and breeding is a typical example.

On August 5, 1987, my country's ninth returnable satellite carried more than 100 varieties of crop seeds such as carefully selected wheat, rice, and green pepper, and successfully completed its first "space journey".

After returning to Earth, they were distributed to various scientific institutions.

Through cross breeding, a batch of new and excellent varieties of soybean "Tiefeng 18" and cotton "Lumian No. 1" that have won the National Invention Award have been cultivated from these seeds.

  Since then, seeds have become the "regular customers" of spacecraft, and the categories include not only seeds of crops, oil crops, etc., but also seeds of special varieties and rare species planted in different places.

On September 17 last year, the return capsule of the Shenzhou 12 manned spacecraft successfully landed at the Dongfeng Landing Site, along with the seeds of crops such as rice, wheat, and corn, seeds of Chinese herbs such as dendrobium, as well as soybeans, potatoes, melons, grapes, Fruit and flower seeds such as orchids and roses, and even microbial bacteria such as pit mud and koji.

  Breeding experiments in the sky continue, and the results are remarkable.

In order to verify the flowering and fruiting process of higher plants in the space environment, Shenzhou No. 8 was designed and equipped with the experimental device "Tomato Test Tube Seedlings Blooming and Fruiting in Space". 8 tomato buds and 5 plants bloomed and fruited, which was the first time in the world to realize the flowering and fruiting of space plants. .

Tiangong-2 carried out higher plant cultivation experiments, and obtained the real-time images of green fluorescent protein controlled by the promoter of the flowering gene of Arabidopsis thaliana in space for the first time. .

This is also the first time that my country has successfully carried out the full life cycle cultivation of plants "from seed to seed".

  The crops on the ground are thriving and the harvest is good.

The new crop varieties cultivated by space breeding technology are popularized and applied in production, and the social and economic benefits are becoming more and more obvious.

The Institute of Atomic Energy and Agricultural Applications of Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences has selected a large number of mutants with specific characteristics by using returnable satellites to carry innovative wheat germplasm resources.

Among them, the new high-yield wheat variety "Luyuan 502", which was systematically bred by conventional hybridization of the aerospace mutant lines "9940168" and "Jimai 19", has an annual promotion area of ​​more than 15 million mu and a cumulative promotion area of ​​over 100 million mu. It has become one of the three main wheat varieties in my country.

  The seeds that have been in space are also enriching the dining table of the people.

Many mature varieties of space breeding are not only "samples" in the experimental field, but also served on the dining table of ordinary people.

"About 30% of the strawberries in the Beijing market are aerospace strawberries and space strawberries, which are generally larger in size," said Yao Tong, an engineer at the Hainan Aerospace Engineering Breeding R&D Center.

  After more than 30 years of practice, China has screened more than 1,200 new materials through space breeding, cultivated more than 260 new varieties of rice, wheat, soybeans, vegetables, etc., with an annual promotion area of ​​more than 40 million mu.

According to preliminary estimates, spaceborne breeding has generated direct economic benefits of more than 200 billion yuan.

At present, my country ranks first in the world in the number of bred varieties and the scope of popularization and application in space breeding.

The research level of space mutagenesis mechanism and the promotion and application level of space breeding technology achievements in agriculture have reached the world's leading level.

  Aerospace breeding provides abundant germplasm resources for my country's agricultural development, helps to hold "China's seeds" and stabilize "China's rice bowl"

  Hang Huang Ying No. 2, unlimited growth cherry tomato, early to medium maturity.

The fruit is oval, the ripe fruit is yellow, the fruit color is bright, the single fruit weighs about 20g, the size is uniform, the taste is sweet, and the fruit does not crack... Walking into the greenhouse of the Aerospace Breeding Industry Innovation Alliance in Tongzhou District, Beijing, there are more than 200 tomatoes, melons, peppers, etc. A variety of crops are thriving.

These are the descendants of seeds that have gone through space travel, and the fruits produced generally have "specialties" in terms of yield, taste, and shape.

  Seeds are the "chips" of agriculture.

In 2021, the No. 1 document of the Central Committee proposes to "fight the seed industry's turnaround"; the 20th meeting of the Central Comprehensive Deepening Reform Committee reviewed and approved the "Action Plan for Revitalizing the Seed Industry"; in 2022, the No. 1 Central Document proposed, "vigorously promote the seed industry and other key agricultural core technologies"... To achieve the core breeding technology research and solve the "stuck neck" problem, space breeding is an important means, and it is also a powerful weapon for our country to win the seed industry's turnaround.

  "my country's space breeding has been aimed at meeting the needs of the market from the beginning, and scientific research work has been carried out from the perspective of promoting national agricultural development, maintaining food security, and meeting farmers' needs." Liu Luxiang, chief scientist of the National Space Breeding Project, said that improving crop varieties is to improve food production. As an important outlet for yield, aerospace breeding provides abundant germplasm resources for my country's agricultural development.

  Space breeding is a powerful addition to new germplasm resources.

Zhao Hui has been working in the field of space carrying for more than 30 years and has witnessed the start and development of space breeding in my country.

"Fight the seed industry well, and small seeds can also burst into great energy." In Zhao Hui's view, space breeding can create rare mutant gene resources that are currently difficult to obtain by other breeding methods in a relatively short period of time, and quickly cultivate Breakthrough of fine varieties, to further ensure national food security.

  China's forage space breeding is still in its initial stage.

Through space breeding, Yang Hongshan's team has successively cultivated "Zhongtian No. 1 alfalfa", "Zhongtian No. 2 alfalfa" and "Zhongtian No. 3 alfalfa" with outstanding quality, stability and high yield traits. Approved new species.

  Alfalfa has the characteristics of high protein, high yield and stress resistance, which is of great significance to the development of my country's animal husbandry industry.

"Alfalfa production is a shortcoming of my country's agricultural industry. At present, my country imports 1.3 million to 1.5 million tons of alfalfa hay from abroad every year." Wang Tao, an alfalfa breeding expert and a professor at the School of Biology at China Agricultural University, said that the cooperation with Aerospace Engineering to carry alfalfa seeds, It is of great benefit to speeding up the process of alfalfa breeding in my country.

  This year, my country will complete the orbital construction of the space station, and then move to a more than 10-year application and development stage.

This means that in the future, there will be more seeds "hitchhiking in" and welcoming "transformation" in space.

  "With the development of my country's aerospace industry, space breeding is also making continuous innovations and breakthroughs. Through space breeding, high-quality germplasm materials with independent intellectual property rights have been created, and high-quality, high-yield, and stress-resistant varieties required by the industry have been selected. It is of practical significance to promote the rapid development of the seed industry in related fields and ensure the safety of the national seed industry." Li Xuelin said.

  Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and State Supervision Commission website Chai Yaxin Xue Peng