Lansipig,afast-growinghogstrain.CHINADAILYAuthoritieshaverecentlyapprovedahomegrownbreedingsystemforafast-growinghogstraincalledtheLansipig,helpingtolessenChina'srelianceonimportedboarsforhogproduction.TheLansipig'scompletesetline—thegeneticfoundationforthenewbreedingsystem—wasgreenlightedforcommercialapplicationinMarchbythenationallivestockandpoultrygeneticresourcescommitteeoftheMinistryofAgricultureandRuralAffairs.ThesystemwasthebrainchildofaresearchteamheadedbyLiKuifromtheAgriculturalGenomicsInstituteinShenzhen,anaffiliateoftheBeijing-basedChineseAcademyofAgriculturalSciencesinGuangdongprovince.AccordingtoLi,theLansipigstrainwasdevelopedbasedonglobalmainstreamcommercialpigbreedsusingadvancedbiologicalbreedingtechnologies,suchasmolecularmarker-assistedbreedingandwhole-genome-assistedbreeding.Comparedwithitsancestors,theLansipighasshownstrongerresistancetodisease,inadditiontoimprovedeconomictraitssuchasgrowthrateandabiggershareofleanmeat,hesaid,addingitisexpectedtoreplacetheDuroc,ChangbaiandYorkshirebreedsandbecomethemainstreamcommercialpigbreed.From2018to2019,anoutbreakofAfricanswinefeverledtoahugelossofpigstocksinChina,anddevelopingbetterdiseaseresistanceisofcriticalimportance."Pigsholdaspecialstatusinourcountry,"hesaidatavirtualnewsconferenceonSaturday."Boththenumberofpigsweraiseandtheconsumptionofporkaccountforabouthalftheworld'stotal,makingitamultitrillionyuanindustry.Pigbreedingiscloselyrelatedtothenationaleconomyandpeople'slivelihoods,"headded.LisaidtherolloutoftheLansipigoffersvaluablelessonsforimprovingotherimportedpigvarieties.Chinaistheworld'sbiggestmarketforpork,consumingsome700millionpigsannually,about90percentofwhicharedescendantsofstrainsimportedfromcountriessuchastheUnitedStates,theUnitedKingdom,DenmarkandFrance.TherolloutoftheLansipig'sbreedingsystemhasbeenfast-trackedbyprogressinthehomegrownmicroarraytechnology,commonlycalled"pigchips",accordingtoLi.Thetechnologyreferstoamicrochip-basedtestingplatformthatallowsautomatedanalysisofmanyDNAsamplesatonce.China'sabilitytomakeitsownmicroarraytestingkitshascurbedthecostforanalyzingalargequantityofgeneticmaterial,whichiscommoninmodernbreeding."WehavedevelopedourownTianpengChip,andhaveachievedfulldomesticproductionoftheentirechipmanufacturingprocess,"Lisaid.TheLansipigbreedingsystemwaslicensedforcommercialusealongside20otherhomegrownvarietiesoflivestock,poultry,silkwormsand17newfoundanimalgermplasms—thegeneticresourcescriticaltobreeding.Itispartofabroadergovernmentefforttodevelopdomesticfoodspeciesthatthecountryhasfullcontrolover.Editor:DisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.