Shanghai municipality has set up its first agricultural gene center, which will collect and store more than 200,000 copies of genes from biological resources used in agriculture.
The center, based in Shanghai Academy of Agriculture, will have copies of genes from all Shanghai's agricultural bio-resources.
The center's gene bank stores gene copies of seeds, microbes, plants cuttings and reproductive cells from animals.
A spokesman for the center said the center will serve as a platform for agronomists around the country to breed improved species of plants and animals.
(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2002)
