On November 21, 2002 (October 17, 2002 in the lunar calendar), my country independently completed the accurate sequencing of the fourth chromosome of rice. On November 21, 2002, the Ministry of Science and Technology, China Academy of Sciences, and Shanghai City People's Government jointly announced that Chinese scientists had completed the precise sequencing task of chromosome 4 of the International Rice Genome Project, bringing my country's contribution to the sequencing work of the International Rice Genome Project to 10%. This is the largest accurate sequencing of a single genome chromosome that my country has independently completed so far. The International Rice Genome Sequencing Project was launched in 1998. Supported by the government and other public funds, 10 countries and regions including China, Japan, the United States, and France jointly initiated and undertook this huge scientific research task. Dr. Han Bin, leader of the sequencing expert working group and the National Center for Genetics Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, announced in a paper entitled "Sequence and Analysis of Chromosome No. 4 in the Rice Genome" published today in Nature that the accurately sequenced rice and japonica rice genome The fourth chromosome after splicing has a total length of 35 million base pairs, with an accuracy of 99.99%, covering 98% of the full-length chromosome sequence (Only 7 small holes are left), meeting the internationally recognized standard for genome sequencing completion maps. While completing the accurate sequence determination, Chinese scientists also conducted a structural and functional analysis of the fourth chromosome of rice, and determined the sequence of the fourth chromosome of another indica rice subspecies of rice, Guangluai. The sequence analysis results of chromosome 4 of the rice genome and future functional genomic research can obtain a large amount of rice genetic information and functional genes, laying a good foundation for cultivating new rice varieties with excellent characteristics such as high yield, high quality, pest resistance, and stress resistance. foundation. At the same time, the sequencing results will also help understand relevant information in the genomes of other important food crops such as wheat and corn, thereby promoting the research of the entire crop genome. Vice Minister of Science and Technology Li Xueyong also announced that as the sequencing of the rice genome is about to be completed, the focus of work in this field will gradually shift to the research of the rice functional genome in order to obtain functional genes with independent intellectual property rights. During the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, my government will regard the research of rice functional genes as one of the cutting-edge technologies and provide key support.