On September 26, a list of 73 projects were released and officially added to the National Basic Research Program (also called the 973 Program), China's on-going national basic research program. The program was approved by the Chinese Government in June 1997 and is organized and implemented by the Ministry of Science and Technology. The September release is the second batch of key technological projects revealed since the start of the 11th Five-year Plan (2006-2010), covering the fields of agriculture, energy, information, environment, health and material science. Last year, the Central Government earmarked over 1.2 billion yuan for the program.

The Chinese Government initiated the 973 Program to implement the strategy of national rejuvenation through science and education and sustainable development. Its initiation is also regarded as an important measure to improve basic scientific research and enhance China's capacity for innovation.

In the agricultural field, the newly added projects will intensify research into hybrid crops, efficient use of manure, sustainable farmland, genetics, reproduction of pasture seeds and rat damage to grain.

One new wave of modern biological development focusing on genetically modified organisms has caused a splash over the safety of genetically modified foods. Scientists have found that controversies over genetic engineering have been in part caused by people's ignorance on key issues as well as insufficient studies on product safety. Public concern about the safety and ethics of genetically modified organisms has been rising.

The introduction of genetic engineering technologies to agriculture has yielded three outstanding benefits: raising output, improving environmental conditions and increasing farmers' incomes. The profits of genetic engineering are particularly precious to agriculture in China against a backdrop of the largest population in the world as well as a shortage of farmland and water resources.

Under such circumstances, how to guarantee the safety of genetically modified foods and whether China should actively develop genetically modified rice have become strategic issues that need to be addressed. Research on safety issues needs to answer the following questions: whether eating genetically modified rice is safe, especially when people eat it on a daily basis; and whether the plantation of genetically modified rice will have an adverse impact on the growing of other varieties of rice or even threaten species diversity. To unravel the mysteries of genetic modification, the Central Government has listed a safety study project on important genetically modified agricultural animals and crops under the 973 Program.

"Our research will not only provide scientific data and conclusions on genetic modification for government decision makers, but also come up with methods to appraise, test and monitor the risks," said Peng Yufa, Chief Scientist on the project.

According to Peng, the project is China's first basic scientific program on the safety of genetically modified organisms. It will cover the safety of genetic modification, explore mechanisms for genetically modified organism to impact agricultural resources and the ecological system, and appraise the impact of genetically modified organisms on human health.

- In the area of energy, taking into consideration China's strategic demand for energy preservation and reduction of pollution, the 973 Program has sponsored new projects on enhancing energy efficiency and energy consumption reduction, including projects on new types of internal combustion engines and heat transfer in gas turbine engines. Projects on new energy and recyclable energy sources will look at technology to provide low cost automobile hydrogen fuel cells, key technologies on supercritical water-cooled reactors, accelerator driven sub-critical systems, bio-energy and wind power.

- In the field of information technology, the 973 Program has given priority to broadband wireless communication technologies, manageable IP networks, and software engineering for complicated systems. Other frontier research projects cover theoretical studies on Terahertz imaging technology and visual computing environments.

- In the arena of energy and environment, the 973 Program focuses on studies of mineral resource supplies and global warming.

- In the field of health, the 973 Program concentrates on the prevention and treatment of the most common health problems in China, including heart failure, malignant arrhythmia, depression, birth defects and immune system diseases. Other projects include basic research programs on infectious diseases and theories of traditional Chinese medicine. One project focuses on the treatment of chronic hepatitis B, aiming to explore how it develops and how to reduce mortality rates from it.

According to professor Ning Qin, Chief Scientist for the project, about 70 percent of China's severe hepatitis cases are caused by infection with the Hepatitis B virus. So far, Chinese scientists have not conducted systematic studies on the development of hepatitis B at the senior stage and have lacked a comprehensive risk appraisal system, which has led to unpredictability and a high level of mortalities.

"Our project will reveal the molecular mechanism of the occurrence of severe hepatitis B cases so that we can establish an early warning and appraisal system at the clinic level and explore new ways to prevent severe hepatitis B," said Ning.

- In the field of material science, the 973 Program focuses on developing new types of material, efficient separation and extraction of strategic mineral resources and preparation and processing of magnesium alloy and titanium alloy.

Colored metal is an important strategic resource for every country. Although China is rich in colored metal mineral resources, most mineral resources are low-grade ores. Thus mineral resources that can be processed through regular technology account for only one third of the total amount of mineral ore. The rapid growth of the Chinese economy is driving up demand for colored metal resources and the current yawning demand-supply gap could pose risks to the healthy development of the Chinese economy.

Against this background, a project aimed at raising the processing efficiency of mineral resources for colored metal has been listed under the 973 Program and granted a state fund of 30 million yuan. This project will involve cross-disciplinary studies of mining, metallurgy, chemistry and material science. It is expected to yield cleaner and more efficient metallurgical methods to produce urgently needed colored metals, including copper, zinc, nickel and titanium.

Professor Chen Qiyuan of Central South University, who presides over the project, said that it has strategic significance for sustainable economic development and national security.

Chen said the project is expected to be finished in five years when research conclusions will be used in the mining of colored metals. He estimated that the research will increase the lifespan of China's mineral resources. If metal output and recycling levels stay at the level of 2005, copper resources will last another 12 years, nickel 40 years and zinc 18 years.

- In the field of cross-disciplinary studies, the 973 Program has focused on major construction projects, the construction of large-scale heavy machinery, safety of railway speed acceleration, anti-earthquake city infrastructure facilities and dam burst monitoring and prevention. Basic theories on microfluidics, process sciences and inversion of remote sensing will also be studied under the project.

- In the field of frontier sciences, the 973 Program has added studies of mathematics and material science, projects looking at the origin of the immune system, genome evolution, the relationship between the ocean carbon cycle and climate, and developing new types of ocean observation systems.