Promoting precious genetic resources

Currently in our country, the field of creating genetically modified organisms, transgenic research into plants (GM) is being approached, invested and implemented with special attention. Many precious genes of application value such as yield, quality, and resistance have been isolated and studied to transfer into plants to create ideal varieties.

Vietnamese traditional plant varieties are very rich. According to statistics, our country has 1,810 maize varieties, 75 varieties of sweet potatoes, 114 varieties of peanuts, 224 varieties of beans, 33 jute seeds, 48 ​​strawberry varieties . Scientists also said that Vietnam is one of the cradle of water rice The whole country has 2,000 traditional rice varieties, of which 206 sticky rice varieties, there are still wild rice species in nature.

Through the cultivation process for thousands of years, Vietnam has chosen and created many precious and famous rice varieties. Particularly, sticky rice has reached three to four dozen varieties. For example: glutinous rice varieties, yellow flower glutinous, dragon sticky Nghe An, elephant leg folds, stalks, strawberry folds, winged folds, gourd folds . Due to the selection process, cultivating thousands of lifetimes, they have ability to adapt and endure well with the field environment. This is really a rich, diverse gene pool, a valuable source of genes.

According to Dr. Le Thi Thu Hien, in our country, the field of research to create genetically modified organisms, transgenic research into plants (GM) is being approached, invested and implemented in research and application with Special attention. Many precious genes of application value such as yield, quality, and resistance have been isolated and studied to transfer into plants to create ideal varieties. Many different methods of gene transfer such as gene shooting methods, methods of using bacteria. A.tumefaciens . has been successfully applied on a variety of important crops such as rice, tomatoes, eggplant, green beans, coffee, tobacco, sweet potatoes. The problems of vector design as well as the completion of plant regeneration processes for genetically modified studies have also received the attention of many scientists.

Currently, the majority of GM crop-related research focuses on the Vietnam Institute of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Scientists have conducted income and isolated many valuable genetic resources of agricultural value such as drought-tolerant genes and cold rice; cry genes, genes that encode inactivated proteins in bitter melon and the coding genes of legumes have insecticidal activity; genes resistant to sweet potato beetle and fungus of Bt bacteria; The gene encodes the envelope protein of the virus causing papaya spot disease in the papaya . Currently, Vietnamese biologists are continuing to study genetically modified plants for flowers, cotton and forest plants, in order to improve resilience. with pests and unfavorable external conditions.

Studies to enhance drought tolerance and salinity tolerance in GM rice plants, transgenic virus-resistant gene transfer into papaya, drought tolerant genes into cotton . are also being implemented effectively with some GM plants.

At the Institute of Tropical Biology, by means of gene transfer through bacteria or gene-shooting methods, scientists created tobacco, rice, green beans, broccoli, broccoli and GM eggplant plants. Insect resistance gene, herbicide resistance gene. Currently, scientists are implementing gene transfer into woody plants using bacteria carrying cryogenic genes resistant to insects, herbicide resistant genes . Biologist La Tuan Nghia and his colleagues have also obtained successes in converting kanamycin-resistant genes into tomatoes. The group of scientists Phan To Phuong and colleagues also succeeded in using indirect methods through soil bacteria A. tumefaciens to transgenic plants into Arabidopsis. This group of authors, in 1989, published the results of the transgenic Xa 21 gene into Vietnamese rice varieties using gene guns.

Recently, Dang Trong Luong's team conducted a vector design and transferred cry genes into cabbage plants. Studies on transgenic herbicide resistance and sheath blight resistance on rice varieties DT 10, DT 13; resistance to blight disease in rice variety VL 902; Genes resistant to silkworms in cabbage CB 26; Far 21 and the gene encoding B-carotene into Indica rice . is also being developed with positive results. The results of these studies are that transgenic plants are created and stored in the laboratory and in greenhouses. However, these crops only exist at the experimental scale and wait for testing. Currently, we do not have regulations for conducting trials of these crops in the field.

Our state has identified biotechnology as an important science. Since 1990, the National Biotechnology Program has been funded for biotechnology research projects, especially in improving plant varieties. Since 2001, the Government has invested in many GM research projects and projects related to many important crops in Vietnam. A number of biotech laboratories have been invested in state-of-the-art equipment and deployed basic techniques of gene technology such as isolation and identification of gene sequences, gene design and transformation. into microbial, animal, gene expression research . Thanks to such effective incentives and investment policies, biotechnology in our country in recent years has taken steps strong growth.

KIÊN CHINH