The genetic improvement of animals and plants is vital for safeguarding food security and elevating the standard of living amongst the general populace. Molecular breeding provides efficient techniques for genetic enhancement and has become an indispensable component in advancing modern agriculture. As a discipline in constant evolution and progress, molecular breeding integrates theories, techniques, and methods from various disciplines such as genomics, molecular biology, biostatistics, computational biology, bioinformatics, and modern breeding. In response to the challenges of new technologies, researchers engaged in breeding work must continuously augment their theoretical and practical foundations in relevant fields through continued study and create a professional network of peers that can offer mutual assistance. As such, the Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences established the Molecular Breeding Academy (MBA), offering advanced courses in molecular breeding to provide comprehensive training in molecular breeding theories, techniques, platforms, methods, and applications. The MBA conducts its classes in Chinese for local students and in English for international students.

The main contents of the MBA course include breeding objectives, projects and germplasm resources, molecular markers and genetic map construction, genetic and breeding populations, gene mapping and association analysis, phenotyping, genotyping and envirotyping, breeding information collection, management and application, germplasm resource evaluation and utilization, major and complex trait prediction, selection and breeding, disease/abiotic stress breeding, transgenic breeding, gene editing breeding, molecular design breeding, big data and intelligent breeding, and intellectual property and plant variety protection. It is hoped that through the coursework, students will establish a solid foundation in molecular breeding. Simultaneously, they will undergo training in the concepts and methods of advanced agricultural education while also broadening their perspectives.

The MBA is held at the Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, a jointly established by Peking University and the Government of Shandong Province. Located in Weifang, known as the "World Kite Capital”, “Chinese Vegetable Capital”, and “Chinese Painting Capital”, and famed for its cultural insights into Chinese art and agriculture, the institution is a leading global name in the realm of agricultural research, aiming to establish at least 30 leading-edge laboratories within the next 10 years. It is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and has built multiple key platforms that facilitate research in crop genetic breeding, biotechnology, bioinformatics and big data, microstructure, protein and metabolome analysis, and single-cell and single-molecule analysis.

Holding the training in the Institute provides substantial convenience for the participants and offers a thorough exposure and understanding of modern breeding technologies, related platforms, and experimental bases. Concurrently, participants will have opportunities for in-depth interaction and participation in research activities with the researchers, teams, and projects of their interest. They may exploit this opportunity to discuss or initialize collaborations with the Institute. Mandarin-speaking MBA students will also pave the way towards the internationalization of our MBA programs.

As an important agricultural region in China, especially Weifang as the vegetable production base of the country, Shandong offers a multitude of opportunities for field trips and visits of nearby seed companies, modern agricultural production facilities, expositions, and new crop variety test and demonstration bases. The MBA will utilize weekends and free time to conduct such trips and visits, allowing the participants to enrich and diversify their training activities.

 

 

Three MBA sessions (including one in English) were successfully conducted during the period of 2022-2023. For detailed reports on the MBA, you may consider perusing the following links:

Inaugural MBA Session at the Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences
‍https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/bRwxxxr7QxkgX6z3f6DpKQ‍

Research Groups at the Institute Share their Work and Research with First MBA Participants
‍https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/xry1uE8sZOA6vR2EELfFWA‍

First Session of MBA Participants Visit the Research Platforms and Facilities at the Institute
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/cYOVCWgeRYyeC3YdWtxK7A

Completion of the First Week of Courses and Mid-Term Assessments at the Molecular Breeding Academy
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ijE8lkumpKZQYmCOGnRP5w

First Session of MBA Participants Inspected Weifang's Agricultural Production and Breeding
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/HlG9NwnozqPYO8PMDtyOWQ

Successful Conclusion of the Inaugural MBA Session
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/x4cKlDZsUDcOTKmYD4XPMw

Comprehensive Report on the First MBA Session at the Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/jR8M7binQ7xtl6PdtYYqQ

2023 MBA Participants Inspected Weifang's Agricultural Production and Breeding
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/HywsV6T_8bCwoq_-aLixuQ

2023 MBA Participants Visit the Institute’s Breeding Base
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/THQPfq9sznNmOU30GWjjKw

Successful Conclusion of the 2023 MBA Session
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/b6Jm3y6kFScTR3nRfAErWw

Successful Inauguration of the First English Session of the MBA
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/0tP-sPFMHj-2oMvgiAs1Iw

First English MBA Session Participants Inspected Weifang’s Agricultural Production and Breeding
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/aiK49heMAgBvMviJDotKIw

 

A View of the Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences

 

 

Part of the Crop Breeding Team from the University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences at the Breeding Base

 

 

 

The Geographic Location of the Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences at on the Map

 

01 Training Schedule

The training dates for the 2024 MBA training Courses are from 12th to 24th of May. Registration is on Sunday afternoon and evening, courses commence on Monday, and training ends on Friday of the second week. The first weekend is allocated for visiting and inspecting nearby seed companies, variety testing sites and industrial parks.

Critical Dates for the Training

Day 1 (Monday): Opening Ceremony with speeches from the Director or Deputy Director of the Institute; an introduction to the Institute, and an introduction to the MBA course.

Graduation Day (Friday): Special Report (14:30-15:30); Closing Ceremony (15:30-17:00) with a speech from the Director or Deputy Director of the Institute; summary by the course's leading professor; awarding of scholarship certificates and completion certificates. A chance for course attendees to freely express themselves.

Departure: Friday evening of the second week or the following morning.

Scholarship awards are determined based on classroom test results and assessments combined with general performance during the training. The Institute will issue a MBA Training Completion Certificate to participants who pass the assessment. Those who do not pass will receive a MBA Training Participation Certificate.

02 Course Outline

The training course covers three areas of training activities: lectures, institute facility visits, and external visits to seed companies, industrial parks, and Vegetable Expo Parks. The themed lectures total to 60 hours (course content and order of teaching is subject to adjustment) and include the following:

1. Breeding objectives, projects and germplasm resources: The determination of breeding objectives; the establishment of breeding projects and plans; the origin, domestication and improvement of crops; the introduction and acquisition of germplasm resources and breeding materials; experimental design and data analysis.

2. Molecular markers and genetic map construction: types of molecular markers and their characteristics; the construction of genetic linkage maps using molecular markers; the factors affecting the construction of genetic maps.

3. Genetics and breeding populations: Populations used in genetic analysis and breeding, including biparental populations (RIL, DH, BC, IL), multiparental populations (MAGIC, NAM, NC, MHP, Diallel), natural populations, and mutant populations.

4. Gene mapping and association analysis: The use of molecular marker maps and different populations for major gene and complex trait gene mapping and for the development of associated molecular markers; QTL mapping and GWAS analysis.

5. Phenotyping and phenomics: Techniques, methods, and platforms for accurate, rapid, and high-throughput phenotyping of individuals and populations, as well as the application of phenomics in genetic breeding.

6. Genotyping: Molecular level genotyping individuals and populations, including molecular marker detection, sequencing-based genotyping, solid-phase chip detection and genotyping based on targeted sequencing and liquid-phase chips, and whole-genome sequencing.

7. Envirotyping: Environmental factors affecting the growth and development of plants; the concept of envirotypes; methods for collecting various environmental factors and information; integration, mining, and analysis of environmental information with other information; genotype × environment interaction; comprehensive application of environmental information; rapid breeding under environmental control; environments and epigenetic breeding.

8. Evaluation and utilization of germplasm resources: Phenotypic evaluation, genotypic evaluation, and environmental evaluation of germplasm resources; exploration of germplasm resources; improvement and innovation of germplasm resources.

9. Major-gene trait selection and breeding: Molecular marker-assisted major gene transfer; basic principles of backcross breeding; molecular marker-assisted backcrossing and gene pyramiding.

10. Prediction, selection, and breeding of complex traits: Molecular marker-assisted recurrent selection and genome-wide prediction and selection; factors affecting genomic selection and prediction, genetic model/simulation, prediction, and breeding applications.

11. Abiotic/biotic stress breeding: Global climate changes and crop production; biotic stress identification and resistance evaluation; abiotic stress identification and resistance evaluation; major gene and polygene resistance; gene stacking and multi-resistance breeding.

12. Big data and intelligent breeding: Basic concepts of big data; breeding big data and information platforms; artificial intelligence and its application in breeding; integration of big data and artificial intelligence and its application in breeding.

13. Transgenic breeding: Principles of transgenics; transgenic technology; transgenic breeding; molecular marker-assisted transgenic breeding; commercialization and transgenic regulation.

14. Gene-editing breeding: Basic principles of gene-editing; gene-editing technology; applications of gene-editing in breeding; management of gene-editing products.

15. Molecular design breeding: Basic concepts of molecular design breeding; micro-level molecular design breeding (gene design, metabolic design, network design); macro-level molecular design breeding (individual design, population design, species design); applications of molecular design breeding; synthetic biology and breeding.

16. Collection, management, and application of breeding information: Biological databases; information collection; information integration; information retrieval and mining; information management systems; support systems for breeding activities and decisions; breeding simulations; open-source and integrated breeding.

17. Intellectual property and variety protection: Intellectual property and breeders' rights; variety protection: needs and influences; international agreements on variety protection; variety protection strategies; how intellectual property affects molecular breeding; molecular markers and variety protection.

03 Student Registration and Admission

Admission to the training course is done through voluntary individual application and approval by the training course organizers. Applicants should meet the following conditions:

1. Have a bachelor's degree in a related major and have more than 5 years of experience working in breeding-related field, or hold a master's degree and have over 2 years of work experience, or are currently a doctoral student or holds a doctoral degree and is working in a breeding-related field.

2. Possess a keen interest in molecular breeding and modern breeding techniques.

3. Be in good health and capable of completing the intense long-haul training, which includes classroom learning, field or lab internships, and field inspections.

Applicants are required to submit proof of the highest degree obtained and a personal resume (including the current job position) when registering. The training course selects the best students based on educational background, career experience, and personal interests.