Pioneering Agricultural Research in Space

Prof. Hon-Ming Lam is the Choh-Ming Li Professor of Life Sciences at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He is concurrently the Director of the Molecular Biotechnology Programme in School of Life Sciences, the Director of State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology (CUHK), the Director of RGC-Areas of Excellence Center for Genomic Studies on Plant-Environment Interaction for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security, and the Director of Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability.

In an exciting collaboration with CRRIST and SBG, Prof. Lam launched the first agricultural research project in space in 2023. This groundbreaking initiative aims to investigate the potential mutagenesis of soybean and rhizobium under space conditions. The team is set to conduct comprehensive analyses of specimens returned from space, seeking to unravel the mutation mechanisms of soybean seeds. The ultimate objective is to achieve significant breakthroughs in agricultural technology and identify new soybean seed materials with promising applications, thereby enriching national strategic agricultural germplasm resources.

 

Lam space project 2   Lam space project 3

 [Photo source: CUHK CPR]

>> Links

1. Global Times [24 Aug. 2024]

2. Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau 

3. Youtube

4. Feng Shows [21 June 2024]

5. CUHK Communications and Public Relations Office: [Link 1] [Link 2]