Major Moves in Agricultural GMOs: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Discloses Certificate List, Sparking a New Wave in Plants and Microorganisms!

East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) and Rugao Municipal Government jointly established the ECUST–Rugao (Shanghai) Synthetic Biology Concept Validation Center, which is affiliated with ECUST’s School of Bioengineering. Following the new model of scientific and technological achievement transformation—“national-level R&D, frontline incubation, and Rugao-based commercialization”—the center leverages Rugao’s collaboration with ECUST in Shanghai to harness Shanghai’s advantages as the birthplace of synthetic biology in China, continuously attracting high-quality projects to Rugao City. The provincial-level Hydrogen Energy Industry Academician Collaborative Innovation Center has been strengthened and optimized to provide Rugao’s hydrogen energy industrial park with full-chain services—from technological R&D and achievement transformation, to pilot-scale incubation and industrialization. #Synthetic Biology Ningxia Successfully Biosynthesizes Natural Rubber from Periploca Sepium Components The key R&D project of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region—“Key Technologies for Cultivation and Industrial Utilization of Periploca sepium as an Alternative Plant Source for Natural Rubber Production”—has achieved significant scientific and technological outcomes, successfully biosynthesizing natural rubber from components of Periploca sepium. Using P. sepium branches as raw material, the project conducted genome and transcriptome sequencing of P. sepium, screened and cloned key genes involved in natural rubber biosynthesis, performed gene transformation experiments, and studied natural rubber extraction processes and P. sepium cultivation techniques. The project proposed an “alkali-enzyme hydrolysis–petroleum ether” extraction process for natural rubber from P. sepium, and obtained two authorized invention patents: “Device for Extracting Natural Rubber from Periploca sepium” and “Method for Enhancing Natural Rubber Yield Extraction from Periploca sepium.” It also pioneered cultivation techniques for P. sepium and established a 10-mu demonstration base for its cultivation. This natural rubber can be widely applied across industries including automotive, aerospace, and medical devices—reducing raw material costs for heat-resistant, oil-resistant, and corrosion-resistant rubber components—and will help address China’s insufficient domestic natural rubber production capacity and high dependence on imports. #Germplasm Resources USDA Releases National Germplasm Repository Management Plan The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its “National Strategic Plan for Evaluation and Utilization of Germplasm and Varieties,” supporting the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS). The NPGS provides breeders and researchers with essential germplasm resources to ensure U.S. consumers have access to abundant, safe, and affordable agricultural products. Comprising a network of 22 gene banks primarily operated by the USDA Agricultural Research Service in close collaboration with land-grant universities, the NPGS evaluates, characterizes, and preserves unique germplasm—including seeds, tissues, tubers, and buds. It supplies researchers and breeders with genetically diverse germplasm for developing crops resistant to pests and adaptable to environmental stresses, thereby responding to emerging pests and diseases, rapidly changing climates, and shifting market demands. This 10-year plan—guided by the National Genetic Resources Advisory Committee—will address previously unresolved challenges based on data-driven assessments and recommendations from NPGS scientists and leadership. Specific goals include: maintaining disease-free, secure backups of more plant germplasm, ensuring their availability for research and breeding; deepening understanding of intrinsic genetic variation and high-value traits within this germplasm; and acquiring, conserving, and developing novel plant germplasm possessing important agronomic traits. #Regenerative Agriculture China’s First Regenerative Agriculture Standard Released On January 9, China’s first regenerative agriculture standard—the Group Standard “Regenerative Agriculture Management Specification for Crop Production”—was officially launched in Shanghai, aiming to jointly advance regenerative agriculture practices and foster a shared vision for sustainable development across the food value chain.

The ‘Terminator’ Patent: Monsanto’s Expansion and Collapse

The ‘Terminator’ Patent: Monsanto Overreached On March 3, 1998, a brief news item in The Wall Street Journal announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—then headed by Secretary Dan Glickman—and Delta & Pine Land Company, the largest cotton seed company in the United States (based in Mississippi), had jointly secured a patent titled “Control of Plant Gene Expression.” Behind this esoteric name lay a technology enabling genetic modification of plants to produce sterile seeds. Developed by Australian scientist Dr. Melvin Oliver, who worked at the USDA’s research laboratory in Lubbock, Texas, the technology was also dubbed the “Technology Protection System” (a veiled reference to transgenic organisms), designed to prevent farmers from saving and replanting harvested seeds—thus compelling them to purchase new seeds annually and pay patent royalties to biotech companies. Specifically, crops were genetically engineered to produce a toxic protein during late-stage growth that rendered their seeds sterile. This brief Wall Street Journal report was偶然 discovered by Hope Shand, Research Director of the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI), a Canadian non-governmental organization formerly known as the Erosion, Technology and Concentration Group (ETC Group), dedicated to safeguarding biodiversity and countering the adverse impacts of industrial agriculture. Hope Shand immediately alerted her supervisor, Pat Mooney, who exclaimed: “It’s the Terminator!”—a reference to the iconic robot played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The term stuck, coming to denote both the seed-sterilizing technology itself and the broader global agenda of transgenic biotechnology corporations. In September 2004, I met Pat Mooney in Ottawa. “You know,” he explained to me, “this technology directly threatens food security—especially in developing countries, where over 1.5 billion people rely on saved seed for survival. Imagine Terminator crops cross-pollinating with surrounding crops and rendering smallholder farmers’ harvested seeds sterile: it would be a catastrophe—not only for them, but also for the biodiversity they sustain, since they annually replant locally adapted varieties suited to their specific climate and soil conditions.” On March 11, 1998, RAFI issued a bulletin titled “Terminator Technology: A Threat to Farmers Worldwide, Biodiversity, and Food Security.” Yet it attracted almost no attention. “In fact,” Pat Mooney chuckled, “our global campaign succeeded—thanks largely to Monsanto…” Two months later, Robert Shapiro announced ongoing negotiations to acquire Delta & Pine Land for $1.9 billion.

USDA Creates Seed Sovereignty Initiative to Safeguard Genetic Resources

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The US Department of Agriculture announced a $180 million Seed Sovereignty Initiative to protect plant genetic resources through sequencing and advanced technologies. The program aims to enhance agricultural security and reduce foreign dependence on crop genetics over two years.

icis

2026-10-08

USDA Creates Seed Sovereignty Initiative to Safeguard Genetic Resources

USDA Creates Seed Sovereignty Initiative to Safeguard Genetic Resources

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