A chip smaller than a palm integrates DNA testing information covering 19 national monitoring sections of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province, as well as key aquatic organisms including the Yangtze finless porpoise and the Chinese sucker. On March 14^th, during interviews at China's annual "two sessions", Huang Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment, presented this special cutting-edge technology from Shenzhen to Chinese and foreign journalists. It stands as quantifiable and perceptible technological evidence of the ecological progress achieved under the Yangtze River 10-Year fishing ban.

The core technology behind this attention-grabbing chip stems from environmental DNA (eDNA) technology, which has recently gained prominence in the field of ecological monitoring. Traditional ecological surveys rely on fishing, visual observation, or acoustic detection, and these methods are not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but also disruptive to aquatic organisms. In contrast, eDNA technology enables a "non-invasive" ecological survey.

Technicians need only collect a small water sample. By filtering the sample and extracting trace genetic material released into the water from organisms' shed cells, scales, and waste, and then conducting high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics comparison, they can quickly and accurately "read" which fish and other aquatic organisms inhabit the water body. This technological breakthrough provides a new and effective solution for assessing biodiversity.

The chip displayed by Minister Huang Runqiu was independently developed by MGI Tech and mounted on a genetic sequencer called the DNBSEQ-G99. Based on this platform, MGI Tech has launched a complete automated sample preparation system and analysis software, enabling end-to-end monitoring from water sampling to analysis report generation. Its high-precision characteristics provide reliable data support for accurately identifying species, tracking rare and endangered species, and monitoring invasive alien species.

Currently, this environmental DNA metabarcoding sequencing package has delivered impressive results in ecological monitoring practices across China. In a study on fish community monitoring in Wuhan's East Lake conducted by the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Hubei Provincial Ecological Environment Monitoring Center Station, the research team completed sequencing and analysis for 6 sites in just 12 hours, successfully detecting 51 fish species belonging to 16 families and 36 genera. These included economic fish species such as common carp and silver carp, while also accurately identifying invasive species such as mosquitofish.

From Hubei, Zhejiang, and Shaanxi to Guangdong, this technology has been widely applied in multiple scenarios, including fish monitoring in major rivers and lakes, plankton analysis, and even desert soil microbial monitoring.

一枚产自深圳的芯片，见证了长江10年禁渔成效

一枚比手掌还小的芯片，却能集成长江江苏段19个国控断面，涵盖江豚、胭脂鱼等重点水生生物的DNA检测信息。在3月14日中国全国两会的采访中，生态环境部部长黄润秋向中外记者展示了来自深圳一项特殊的“黑科技”，成为长江十年禁渔的生态成效可量化、可感知的科技印证。

这枚引发关注的芯片，核心技术源于近年来在生态监测领域崭露头角的环境DNA（eDNA）技术。与传统依靠捕捞、肉眼观察或声学探测等耗时费力且对生物存在干扰的调查方式不同，eDNA技术实现了一场“无创式”生态普查。

技术人员只需采集一捧水样，通过过滤、提取水中生物脱落细胞、鳞片及排泄物释放的微量遗传物质，再经过高通量测序和生物信息比对，便能快速、精准地“读”出水体中生活着哪些鱼类及其他水生生物。这一技术突破，为摸清生物多样性“家底”提供了全新的解决方案。

据了解，黄润秋部长展示的芯片，由华大智造自主研发，搭载于一款名为G99的基因测序仪上。基于该平台，华大智造已推出完整的自动化样本制备系统与分析软件，可实现从水样到分析报告的全流程一站式监测。其高精度特性，为精准识别物种、追踪珍稀濒危物种以及监测外来物种入侵提供了可靠的数据支撑。

目前，这套环境DNA宏条形码测序组合产品已在全国多地的生态监测实践中交出亮眼“答卷”。在中国科学院水生生物研究所联合湖北省生态环境监测中心站开展的武汉东湖鱼类多样性监测研究中，研究团队仅用12小时便完成6个位点的测序分析，成功检出隶属于16个科、36个属的51种鱼类，不仅包括鲤鱼、鲢鱼等经济鱼类，还精准识别出食蚊鱼等入侵物种。

从湖北、浙江、陕西到广东，该技术已广泛应用于大江大湖鱼类监测、浮游生物分析乃至沙漠土壤微生物监测等多个场景。

文 | 记者 林园
翻译 | 郑书悦
审校 | 曾敏