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On April 18, the 2026 International Symposium on Vegetable Molecular Breeding & the 14th Cucumber Academic Symposium grandly opened in Yangling, Shaanxi Province. The conference gathered nearly 600 participants, including international experts and scholars from the United States, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and other countries, as well as authoritative experts, academic leaders, core researchers and faculty-student representatives from well-known domestic universities, research institutes and enterprises. They explored academic frontiers, discussed seed industry innovation and promoted industrial development. As one of the invited exhibitors at the conference, the Shaanxi Synthetic Biology Innovation Center (hereinafter referred to as the “Center”) brought its self-developed Zymagen series of molecular enzymes and reagent products to Yangling. The Center exchanged ideas with world-leading scientific research forces in vegetable breeding and showcased its technology transformation achievements and industrialization capabilities in synthetic biology.
I. Conference Overview: Building a High-Level Global Exchange Platform for Vegetable Breeding
Centered on “vegetable molecular breeding”, this conference featured 41 high-level academic presentations covering cutting-edge topics such as genetic improvement of quality, innovation in molecular breeding technologies, breeding and demonstration & popularization of new varieties, and integrated application of industrial technologies. Academician Li Tianlai from Shenyang Agricultural University and Academician Yu Jingquan from Zhejiang University, both members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, delivered invited reports via video link. They focused on the frontier trends of vegetable molecular breeding and paths for industrial upgrading, and called on global agricultural researchers to carry out joint research in key areas including germplasm resource innovation, breakthroughs in molecular breeding technologies and breeding of high-quality varieties.
Zhang Hongming, Vice President of Northwest A&F University, Researcher Du Shengli from Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Zheng Yonggang, Director of the Rural Division of Shaanxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology, delivered speeches on behalf of the university, the Cucumber Branch of the Chinese Society for Horticultural Science and Shaanxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology respectively. They hoped that all participants could further consolidate industry consensus and deepen industry-university-research cooperation through this high-level exchange platform, contributing to China’s steady progress from a major agricultural country to a powerful agricultural country.
II. Invited Exhibition: Debut of the Molecular Enzyme Product Series
As a provincial innovation platform approved for construction by Shaanxi Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, the Shaanxi Synthetic Biology Innovation Center has long been committed to the industrialization and achievement transformation of synthetic biology technologies. During the conference, the Center, together with Shaanxi Baiyifeng Industrial Co., Ltd., set up a special booth at the venue of Northwest A&F University. Centered on the self-developed brand “Zymagen molecular enzymes and reagent series products”, the Center displayed its latest product portfolio in the molecular enzyme field to attending experts and scholars.
Figure: Booth for Zymagen molecular enzyme products of Shaanxi Synthetic Biology Innovation Center (Yangling Venue, Shaanxi)
Relevant person-in-charge of the Center introduced that the Zymagen series of molecular enzymes are key tool products developed by the Center based on in-depth cooperation with Northwest A&F University, targeting downstream application scenarios including molecular breeding, gene sequencing, inspection and detection, and gene editing. The series products have been adopted by many research institutes, university laboratories and breeding enterprises, and have won wide recognition from users for high stability, good specificity and cost-effectiveness. This exhibition is not merely a product launch, but also a concentrated demonstration of the Center’s technology transformation capacity.
III. Academician Reports: Frontier Directions of Molecular Breeding Guide Industrial Development
During the conference, Academician Li Tianlai and Academician Yu Jingquan delivered invited presentations via video link, sharing forward-looking academic insights on theoretical innovation and industrial upgrading paths of vegetable molecular breeding respectively. Researcher Xu Yong from the Institute of Vegetables, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, National Engineering Research Center for Vegetables and National Watermelon & Melon Improvement Center gave a report entitled Rethinking the Practice of Molecular Breeding for Watermelons and Melons. He conducted in-depth discussions on core topics including quality genetic improvement, innovation of molecular breeding technologies, breeding and demonstration & popularization of new varieties, and comprehensively presented the latest research progress and industrial development directions of vegetable molecular breeding worldwide.
These high-level academic reports provided valuable guidance on industrial development for participating enterprises. The exhibition team of the Center stated that it would take this conference as an opportunity to further deepen industry-university-research cooperation with major research institutes, accelerate iterative R&D of new-generation molecular enzymes and supporting reagents, and provide better, independent and controllable key tool support for vegetable molecular breeding in China.
IV. On-site Academic Exchange: In-depth Integration of Industry, University and Research
To boost the deep integration of academic research and industrial practice, the conference also organized participants to carry out on-site investigations at smart agricultural industrial parks and demonstration bases in Yangling Demonstration Zone, promoting precise matching between scientific research achievements and production applications. At the booth, the Center’s exhibition team held in-depth exchanges with numerous breeding experts and enterprise representatives. They had lively discussions on pain points and technical routes for the application of molecular enzyme products in practical scenarios such as germplasm resource identification, genotyping and marker-assisted selection, and reached multiple preliminary cooperation intentions.
V. Future Outlook: Empowering Modern Seed Industry with Synthetic Biology Technology
The seed industry is a strategic and fundamental core industry of the country. Every technological breakthrough in vegetable molecular breeding relies on the independent controllability of upstream core tools. Relevant person-in-charge of the Shaanxi Synthetic Biology Innovation Center said that being invited to the 2026 International Symposium on Vegetable Molecular Breeding & the 14th Cucumber Academic Symposium marks an important step for the Center on the road of industrializing synthetic biology technologies. In the future, the Center will continue to follow the development path of independent innovation, collaborative innovation and industry-finance integration. It will keep focusing on the R&D and industrial promotion of molecular enzymes and supporting reagents, contributing “synthetic biology strength” to the high-quality development of China’s vegetable seed industry and Shaanxi’s steady transformation from a major agricultural province to a powerful agricultural province.
Although the conference has concluded, the Center’s dialogue with world-leading scientific research forces in vegetable molecular breeding has only just begun. Taking this conference as a new starting point, the Zymagen series of molecular enzyme products will be tested and release its value on a broader market stage.
