China: Provincial Administration Wins Recognition of Tobacco Molecular Genetics Key Laboratory

Source from:  TobaccoChina Online  02/22/2013

Guizhou Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Administration in southwest China's Guizhou Province – the second largest tobacco-producing region in China – has won recognition by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) of its Tobacco Molecular Genetics Key Laboratory of the Tobacco Industry.

Recently, the STMA issued the Notice on the Situation of the Work of Recognition of Key Laboratories of the Tobacco Industry. As a result, the Tobacco Molecular Genetics Key Laboratory of the Tobacco Industry established by the provincial tobacco industry at Guizhou Provincial Tobacco Science Institute won recognition by the STMA.

In July 2012, the STMA started the process of taking applications for recognition of key laboratories of the tobacco industry. After preliminary examination, re-examination and appraisal by a panel of experts, nine out of a total of 21 key laboratories of the tobacco industry, including  eventually Tobacco Molecular Genetics Key Laboratory established by the tobacco industry of Guizhou, won recognition by the STMA. The recognition means affirmation and approval by the STMA of the work of scientific-technological research and establishment of experimental platforms by Guizhou Provincial Tobacco Science Institute.

Over recent years, Guizhou Provincial Tobacco Science Institute, under the care and great support of the STMA and Guizhou Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Administration, has made certain achievements in scientific-technological research, establishment of laboratories, human resources development, cooperation, exchange, etc. In particular, it annually wins two or more provincial-level awards for research achievements, and is granted three or more patents for invention.

With a floor area of 24,000 square meters, the Tobacco Molecular Genetics Key Laboratory boasts more than 80 apparatuses and sets of research equipment (with an investment of nearly 100 million yuan (15.9 million U.S. dollars). The annual amount of funds for each research project averages at more than 20 million yuan (3.18 million U.S. dollars). The key laboratory has 35 researchers with senior professional titles and 29 researchers with the doctor's degree. Besides, it extensively launches cooperation with counterparts in the United States, Japan, Zimbabwe and other countries and regions in the execution of research projects.

The Tobacco Molecular Genetics Key Laboratory, in light of bottleneck problems inhibiting the development of leaf tobacco production, regularly launches basic research for application and generic technology research. With biotechnology, molecular technology as the means, it taps in an in-depth way tobacco genome information, and conducts research of tobacco molecular genetics, expression of functional genes of tobacco, functions of protein on the part of tobacco, etc, making achievements in original innovation and gaining independent intellectual property rights, meeting the target of developing "high-quality, productive, adaptable, multi-resistant, harm-reduced and characteristic" super new tobacco varieties, and striving to turn itself into a public research and development platform of the tobacco industry for technological innovation and crucial technology development, and to turn itself into a platform for scientific-technological exchange and cooperation meeting advanced world levels. Enditem