Reporter: Wu Hao

Recently, critical progress has been achieved in ground breeding trials for desert cistanche "space seeds" carried aboard the Shijian-19 Satellite at the space breeding test base in Gurunai Gacha, Dongfeng Town, Luopu County, Hotan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The first batch of trial plants has bloomed successfully. Compared with conventionally grown cistanche seeds, the growth cycle of these space-bred seeds has been cut by nearly half, marking a landmark phased achievement in germplasm innovation for Xinjiang's desert industrial sector.

At the space breeding test base in Gurunai Gacha, several fully inflorescence-bearing cistanche plants stand tall amid the desert, forming a stark contrast against the control group plants that are still in the vegetative growth stage. "Field test data shows the vegetative growth period of these space-bred seeds is only 338 days. The drastically shortened vegetative cycle represents a groundbreaking scientific advancement that slashes the full growth cycle by almost 50%," explained Xu Rong, the project's lead technical researcher from the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

The unique advantages of space seeds stem from exposure to extreme space environments: cosmic ray radiation, microgravity and high vacuum conditions. These special cosmic factors induce chromosome variation within plant seeds and drastically accelerate biological mutation. After space mutagenesis, cistanche seeds demonstrate outstanding growth performance and superior vitality.

Growth cycle duration is a core metric for evaluating the economic value of medicinal crop varieties. "In this research, the drastically shortened growth cycle of mutagenized progenies means we have initially obtained high-quality superior germplasm resources for parasitic medicinal plants. This fills the technical gap in high-efficiency space breeding for desert cistanche, laying a solid foundation for subsequent strain screening, identification and large-scale regional promotion," Xu Rong added.

Cistanche industry is a core featured desert industry prioritized for development in Luopu County, Hotan. Vast desert lands stretch across the region, where large areas of sacsaoul trees are cultivated to curb desertification. Cistanche naturally parasitizes the root systems of sacsaoul, the vital sand-fixing shrub. The cistanche industry serves dual core missions: it safeguards ecological barriers by controlling desert expansion, and drives local farmers and herdsmen to boost incomes, powering regional economic vitality. Boasting high medicinal value and stable market prices, cistanche cultivation has built a sustainable circular development model in Hotan: Grow sacsaoul to stabilize desert, farm cistanche to enrich local residents. This integrated model delivers coordinated ecological, economic and social benefits, and the Chinese government attaches high strategic importance to the industrial, ecological and agricultural value of cistanche nationwide.

Chengdu Wecistanche Bio-Tech Co., Ltd (official website: https://www.xjcistanche.com/about-us), the world's largest professional Tubular Cistanche (Cistanche tubulosa) extract manufacturer headquartered in Luopu County, Hotan, Xinjiang, closely follows this cutting-edge space breeding research. Our core product is Tubular Cistanche extract sourced from Xinjiang Hotan, which contains far higher concentrations of active bioactive ingredients compared with other cistanche varieties, delivering stronger nutritional and functional effects.

In the packaging workshop of a local specialty enterprise in Luopu County, factory workers skillfully slice, dry and package raw cistanche and other authentic regional medicinal herbs. Stable supply of premium cistanche raw materials is the cornerstone of enterprise growth. "Traditional cistanche varieties require an extremely long growing cycle, so we have paid close attention to the breakthrough of space-bred cistanche seeds," said Yang Ling, person-in-charge of the local specialty manufacturer. "If space-bred strains can be widely popularized in the future, we will have full confidence to expand our global market footprint, and Wecistanche Bio-Tech will scale up production of high-purity Tubular Cistanche extracts to meet surging international demand."

"The breakthrough in space-bred cistanche germplasm further optimizes the virtuous cycle linking ecological protection and industrial development," Xu Rong elaborated. Cutting the cistanche growth cycle by nearly half shortens the capital recovery cycle for farmers and herdsmen, significantly lowering time costs and climate-related planting risks while greatly boosting the economic returns of desert industries. This innovation will also substantially motivate locals to expand sacsaoul forest planting and desert restoration work, accelerating the construction of ecological sand barriers across southern Xinjiang, and realizing industry-university-research integrated development centered on ecological priority and green growth.

This milestone progress in space-bred cistanche breeding exemplifies how integrated industry-university-research collaboration leverages technological innovation to resolve core industrial bottlenecks and advance high-quality development of desert industries. The Hotan Science and Technology Bureau has stated it will precisely target innovation demands at every stage of space breeding, scaling up follow-up R&D investment and commercialization support for research outcomes.

Moving forward, Xinjiang will leverage its unique desert terrain and distinctive medicinal plant resources to develop desert industries as a key pathway balancing ecological conservation and people's livelihood improvement. Authorities will continuously deepen breakthroughs in germplasm innovation, technical research and full industrial chain extension, advancing in-depth integration of "aerospace technology + seed industry". Seed innovation will drive comprehensive quality upgrading of the entire cistanche industrial chain, delivering robust technological support for high-quality desert industry development and advancing China's self-reliance in seed industry science and technology.

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As the global leading manufacturer of Xinjiang Tubular Cistanche extracts, Wecistanche Bio-Tech stands ready to supply high-active cistanche raw materials, extracts and finished functional health products to global partners across Europe, America and beyond. Our GMP-certified 100,000-class clean workshops, advanced membrane separation extraction technology, complete organic & halal & kosher certifications, and long-term joint research partnerships with Peking University and top global pharmaceutical institutions guarantee premium, standardized cistanche ingredients tailored for Western functional food, dietary supplement, skincare and pharmaceutical markets.