Entering the first scene of "Space Breeding": the seeds brought back by "Shen Thirteen" have been sown in the field

　　China News Service, Beijing, June 27th: Into the first scene of "Aerospace Breeding": The seeds brought back by "Shen Thirteen" have been sown in the field

　　Author Ma Shuisha Guo Chaokai

　　Thin and juicy Hanging watermelon, Hanging melon, sweet and sour high-sugar tomato, kiwi tomato, high-yield and spicy capsicum, line pepper, horn pepper, childhood-flavored fruit cucumber Hangmelon Yuni, fresh and crisp green Healthy bitter gourd, chestnut-flavored babe pumpkin... Every summer fruit and vegetable season, the number of people in the core demonstration base of aerospace breeding in Tongzhou, Beijing will increase significantly. Large farmers and seed dealers from various places are introduced by scientific researchers. In the fields, choose your favorite fruit and vegetable varieties.

Photo by Hou Yu, a peelable and edible kiwi tomato

　　Walking into the tomato greenhouse with an area of ​​two acres, there are more than 170 new aerospace varieties planted in it. Strings of colorful tomatoes of different sizes are densely hanging on the vines. Striped Hangcai cherry, peelable and edible kiwi tomato... From fruit shape, taste and flavor to crop yield and resistance, they are different. They can adapt to the planting environment in different regions and meet the taste differences of different groups of people.

Pick a crystal clear kiwi tomato, after peeling it, the entrance is sour and sweet, and the flesh is dense and juicy like a kiwi.

A chestnut pumpkin with dark orange stripes on a light yellow background Photo by Hou Yu

　　These various and distinctive fruits and vegetables are all cultivated using "space seeds".

Zhao Hui, secretary-general of the Space Breeding Industry Innovation Alliance, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Agency that under the special environment of space, the mutation cycle of seeds is shortened and the mutation frequency is increased. Compared with the ground, more abundant genetic mutations can occur, which is beneficial for breeders Provide more beneficial variation materials to facilitate the cultivation of new varieties.

　　Since the launch of the China Space Station mission, the Shenzhou 12 and Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft have successively brought back thousands of pieces (parts) of crop seeds, microbial strains and other space breeding materials, including wheat, sorghum, cucumber, tomato, etc. .

Some of the seeds brought back by the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft were sent to space by the Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft, with the longest in-orbit flight time of 11 months.

　　"This is the first time that we have obtained experimental materials that have been in orbit for a long time." Zhao Hui revealed that some seeds have been sown in open fields according to the agricultural season, and some are undergoing related experiments in the laboratory.

　　From space travel, variety selection to market entry, seeds of staple crops such as rice, wheat, and corn usually take about 8 years to cultivate, while horticultural crops such as fruits and vegetables take 3 to 5 years.

"If you want to eat new varieties bred from seeds brought back from the space station on the table, you need to give breeders some more time." Zhao Hui said.

　　It is understood that the seeds brought back by the Shenzhou 12 manned spacecraft have obtained preliminary experimental results.

For example, the National Plant Aerospace Breeding Engineering Technology Research Center found that the Shenzhou 12 space mission has caused significant biological effects on the two rice seeds that were carried and returned, and it is expected to produce considerable genetic variation.

Photo by Hou Yu of Space Miniature Rose

　　Does this variation affect safe consumption?

Zhao Hui said that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency have classified space breeding as a type of physical radiation breeding. Physical radiation breeding has a history of nearly 100 years in the world, and there are more than 3,300 commercial varieties that have been documented. kind.

Practice has proved that none of them have food safety problems.

　　Zhao Hui said that using the space environment to induce plant trait variation is the result of the plant's own gene mutation, and does not involve the introduction of foreign genes. Its essence is the same as the mutation of plants in nature. "The safety of space breeding is certain. ".

Compared with artificial irradiation on the ground, the survival rate of seeds after "space travel" can be increased to 90%, and the probability of mutation is increased by at least an order of magnitude.

The higher mutation probability of space breeding helps to solve the bottleneck problem of lack of germplasm resources for breeding materials.

　　As the saying goes, it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice.

In Zhao Hui's view, no matter which breeding method is adopted, the basic materials required for provenance innovation are lacking, and breeding has become "water without source, tree without roots", and it is difficult to form breakthroughs and innovations.

　　In the future, with the completion of the Chinese space station, regular launch and return, space mutation environment inside and outside the cabin, and more weight loads will provide more abundant space resources and guarantees for breeding research.

Due to the long in-orbit flight time, the experimental materials brought back by the Shenzhou 12 and Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft were mainly microbial strains in the form of seeds and freeze-dried powder, and no living materials such as seedlings were carried.

After the subsequent experimental module enters orbit, the space station will have the conditions to conduct plant growth experiments in orbit.

　　Plant cultivation in space is also a research focus of space powers such as the United States and Russia.

According to Zhao Hui, different countries have their own priorities in using the space environment to carry out scientific research. For example, the United States is more inclined to biomedical and biological scientific research, aiming to build "flying farms" in space.

Zhao Hui, secretary general of the Aerospace Breeding Industry Innovation Alliance, accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Agency.

Photo by Hou Yu

　　With the implementation of the deep space exploration program, China is also carrying out related research simultaneously.

Zhao Hui said, "Bringing seeds to the moon and Mars is a must in the future." China has proposed to build an international lunar scientific research station. Human beings can survive in the lunar environment and need to grow plants to create a controlled ecology in a closed space. The life insurance system enables people to live in an ecological environment similar to the earth. Previously, domestic researchers have conducted simulation experiments.

　　While pursuing "God", China also pays attention to how to "go to the ground", and pays attention to how to realize the innovation of provenance, increase production, improve quality, and enrich people's "rice bags" and "vegetable baskets".

Zhao Hui said that this is closely related to the reality that the Chinese have more land and less land, and their demand for high-quality seed sources. For example, if crops mature a few days earlier, in the southern typhoon-prone areas, you may be able to avoid a typhoon, and in the north, you can avoid a typhoon. During the frost period, ensure high crop yields and farmers' incomes.

　　In fact, aerospace breeding products have long been served on the table and entered people's daily life.

Zhao Hui said that China has been carrying aerospace breeding since the 1980s, and aerospace breeding products are now everywhere around people, but people generally pay attention to the taste and flavor of food, and rarely emphasize the role of aerospace breeding in the name. At present, China's achievements in space breeding have also been widely recognized by international counterparts.

　　Zhao Hui said that China's use of spacecraft load margins for the public welfare of space breeding has not only better utilized the comprehensive benefits of manned spaceflight projects, but also made considerable contributions to the country, society and people's livelihood.

　　"In the future, aerospace breeding will make great achievements in the independent control of seed sources, and can provide more support for breeding experts. We must not only build a 'space farm', but also take care of the ground vegetable garden." Zhao Hui said.

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