China’s 'Father of Hybrid Rice' hopes to see a globe full of hybrid rice

After toiling and moiling on the rice field with remarkable achievement, China's “Father of Hybrid Rice” Yuan Longping revealed that he has two more wishes: to grow taller rice and to increase the scale of rice across the globe to address famine.

Yuan revealed his wishes at the prize ceremony of China’s Future Science Prize, one of the country’s most prestigious non-governmental science awards, on Nov. 18 in Beijing, where the 2018 winners in life science, physical science, and mathematics and computer science were awarded.

Photo courtesy of the Future Science Prize

Yuan, in collaboration with Zhang Qifa and Li Jiayang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), shared the life science prize for their pioneering work in breeding new rice varieties with high-yield and superior quality.

“There is no end to scientific research and I still have two dreams. One is that hybrid rice could cover the whole world. The other is to grow taller and stronger rice plants with more yield, so that my colleagues and I could one day sit down and rest under their shade,” said Yuan in his acceptance speech via video message. Yuan, 88, did not attend the ceremony due to his physical condition.

“Thank you to the panel of judges for selecting me as a winner. I regard this award as a very high honor. This year marks the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up, which means it has been four decades since former leader Deng Xiaoping raised science and technology to the status of the primary productive force, which had been greatly encouraged by intellectuals. Every year, hybrid rice feeds 70 million more Chinese people, which means it plays a huge role in meeting food demand in China. We are committed to researching super hybrid rice and have achieved good results. There is no end to scientific research,” Yuan said.

At the ceremony, Ma Dawei from the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry at CAS, Feng Xiaoming from Sichuan University, and Zhou Qilin from Nankai University received the physical science prize for their creative contributions to the invention of new catalysts and reactions, which have provided a new approach to the synthesis of organic molecules, especially drug molecules.

Lin Benjian, an academician from CAS and also an expert with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry, received the mathematics and computer science prize for his work in expanding nanoscale integrated circuits.

The winners will also share $100 million in prize money for each award category.

Touted as China’s “Nobel Prize,” as both are privately funded, the Future Science Prize aims to increase public interest in science and connect science and business.

The Future Science Prize rewards outstanding original research that was finished in China and has global impact. It is not limited to Chinese citizens and is privately funded by 12 eminent Chinese entrepreneurs who want more public involvement in the country’s development of science.

The prize was launched in 2016 by entrepreneurs aiming to utilize cutting-edge computer science technology, such as AI and big data, in the business sector, as well as by investors who understand that scientific development is the foundation of long-term prosperity. Fifteen prominent scholars worldwide form the panel of judges, including Wang Xiaodong, director of the National Institute of Biological Sciences in Beijing Li Kai, a member of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States Computer science professors Paul M. Wythes and Marcia R. Wythes, Princeton University and Luo Liqun, professor of Biology at Stanford University.

Photo courtesy of the Future Science Prize