ISLAMABAD
\nAfter six months in China\u2019s spacescraft under the first-ever Sino-Pak \u2018Seeds in Space\u2019 project, seven kinds of Pakistani medicinal seeds returned to the earth and their motherland.
\nAccording to China Economic (CEN), the seeds, three kinds provided by the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi and four by Hamdard University, have made history as the first to aboard the Chinese space station and opened a new chapter for S&T cooperation between China and Pakistan.
\nThis is an extraterrestrial way to enhance food production. Space-bred varieties have proved to be able to perform better in terms of production and resistance, and the return of seeds from space is only the start.
\nAfter Pakistan\u2019s medicinal seeds return to the earth, Pakistan and China will conduct joint research on their genetic stability, material basis, effectiveness and safety by comparing the seeds on board with their mother seeds on the earth to screen out new medicinal materials with higher quality and higher yield, Dr. Jiang Ning, Deputy Secretary-General of Sino-Pakistan Cooperation Center on Traditional Chinese Medicine, National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China, told China Economic Net in an interview.
\nHow is that achieved? Scientific study shows that microgravity, cosmic radiation and very low temperatures outside the space station can induce genetic mutations that could make the plants more productive and resilient to climate fluctuations resulting from climate change.
\nSo far, China, the third country in the world after the US and Russia to achieve satellite breeding in space, has cultivated more than 200 new space-bred varieties with an annual planting area of 2-3 million hectares. Among them, wheat variety Luyuan 502 has increased production by 11% more than ordinary varieties and manifested better resistance to drought, diseases and pests.
\n\u201cThere is no way to transform plant seeds in a set direction, but it is possible to achieve our intended outcomes by sending them to space. For medicinal plants, we hope they can grow better with stronger resistance, survival rate, and efficacy.
\nAll can be achieved via genetic mutation in space\u201d, said Dr. Wang Yan, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi.
\nAboarding China\u2019s Shenzhou 14 manned spacecraft, Pakistan\u2019s medicinal plant seeds have undergone 6 months of scientific experiments.
\n\u201c[It] represents a landmark in China-Pakistan S&T cooperation and will be recorded in the history of their friendship,\u201d said Pang Chunxue, Charge d\u2019Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, terming the experiment as a milestone of China-Pakistan scientific and technological cooperation.
\nThe bilateral science and technology cooperation has been included under the framework of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). \u201cThe scientific experiment cooperation is a concrete manifestation of China\u2019s willingness to share the fruits of high-tech development with Pakistan,\u201d said Cao Zhouhua, Science Commissioner of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan. He said that China\u2019s space station is an important part of the UN\u2019s \u201cShared Global Space\u201d initiative and is open to all UN member States.
\nScientific and technological cooperation is an important part of China- Pakistan relations. Since the signing of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation in 1976, the two sides have jointly funded more than 475 research projects in the fields of agriculture, aerospace, water conservation, chemical industry, medical and health care, biotechnology, computer science, environment, energy and technology management.
\nSending seeds to the space will never be the end of China-Pakistan cooperation in space.
\nAs Professor Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiative (PD&SI), put it, \u201cSpace technology is one of those technologies which is most critical for human development and security of any nation\u201d, adding that \u201ccollaboration with China will open doors of development for us in future\u201d.
\nTake the Sino-Pakistan Seed Orbit Breeding Project as an example. Prof. Liu Xinmin – Member, Expert Advisory Panel on Traditional Medicine, WHO – noted that the project will surely boost Sino-Pakistan cooperation on R&D of medicinal plants based on the Chinese Space Station. He told the reporter, for seeds of the same medicinal plant, comparative studies can be conducted, such as breeding, cultivating, chemical components, efficacy, and safety, etc when they returned to the Earth.
\n\u201cIt will promote the further utilization of space in the future,\u201d said Liu, who is also the Chief Scientist in the Institute of Drug Discovery Technology (IDDT), Ningbo University(NBU), China. Also, both countries can jointly train young scholars in this field, Liu added.
\nProfessor Shahid Baig, Chairman of the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) noted that the prospects of collaborations are immense, and \u201cI believe that these synergies between Pakistan and China will open up new horizons of economic and technological development\u201d.
\n\u201cThe Shenzhou 12 mission carried the national flag of Pakistan, and the Shenzhou 14 mission carried Pakistan\u2019s plant seeds, which fully showcase profound friendship between China and Pakistan\u201d, said Liu Boming, a veteran Chinese astronaut in a video reply to Aasiya Ismail, a 17-year-old girl from Islamabad Model School for Girls, Pakistan.
\n\u201c[Sending Pakistani seeds into the Chinese space station] is the first time, but for sure, not the last,\u201d Prof. Liu Xinmin told the reporter.
\nThere is every reason to believe that China-Pakistan space cooperation will cover more areas and benefit more people from both countries and beyond in days to come.
\n\u201cThe Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of Pakistan will continue to extend support toward the Pakistani scientist and pursuing meaningful collaboration with their Chinese friends in the field of science and technology and innovation,\u201d pinpointed Ghulam M. Memon, Federal Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, Pakistan.=DNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD After six months in China\u2019s spacescraft under the first-ever Sino-Pak \u2018Seeds in Space\u2019 project, seven kinds of Pakistani medicinal seeds returned to the earth and their motherland. According to China Economic (CEN), the seeds, three kinds provided by the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi and four by Hamdard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313256,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-313241","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n