According to the Minister of science and innovation policy of the Novosibirsk region Alexey Vasiliev, budget subsidies accounted for only ten to twenty percent of the total funding of genomic research. The main emphasis is on cooperation with industrial partners who are experiencing real need in the work of scientists. In General the prepared in the region of projects will require about a billion rubles.
experts of the ICG SB RAS, focused on the creation of new genetic lines of wheat, barley and potato with desired properties. They will be much more resistant to diseases and changing climate conditions, convenient for the processing on the food industry. First of all we are talking about marker assisted selection and genome editing. And in order to multiply the effectiveness of this work, geneticists working on the introduction of digital technology.
– Selection of high-performance varieties starts with the fact that we need to identify and assess variability of the most important characteristics in a particular population, – says leading researcher of the Kurchatov center for genome ICG SB RAS Dmitry Afonnikov. Previously it was a very laborious work: the parameters were measured using a regular ruler or even the eye. Now we are developing advanced technologies that will allow us to assess the phenotype of plants, yield, productivity. We develop computer technology will increase the efficiency of phenotyping in the hundreds or even thousands of times.
Thanks to the work of the Novosibirsk geneticists breeders will not need to do the measurements manually – just take a picture of a spike on a smartphone, and the program will assess the plant on various parameters.
– It’s not just increases the productivity of the breeder, – stressed Dmitry Afonnikov, computer methods eliminate the subjectivity, the human factor and do not require special skills. No matter who is working on task a student or a doctorate – all perform of the neural network. The exact response would, in any case, regardless of experience. To measure the most characteristics, only one picture: took the picture and forgot. He went into the database, entered treatment. These technologies can be used by a wide range of researchers.
One of the first examples of optimization of the work of breeders has been an open mobile app, created by experts in the ICG SB RAS to assess the size, shape and other characteristics of wheat grains. To determine the yield plants enough to pour out grain from ears on a white background and take a picture. The data is processed and generated into a file, into a handy table.
– We actively promote their methods and cooperate with breeding companiess – said the head of the Department “Kurchatov center for genome ICG SB RAS,” Elena Salina. – In the framework of contractual relations interact with the commercial sector, seed enterprises on subjects that interest them. In addition, ICG is a branch of the Siberian Institute of plant cultivation and breeding. We extend to him our designs, and then work with the grain buyers.
