Dr. Monty Jones of Sierra Leone, Africa, contributed to various rice research projects of West Africa Rice Development Association ( WARDA ) from 1991 to 2002. Among these projects, his outstanding achievement was the development of NERICA rice that was called "Miracle Rice" because he developed it with the best use of biotechnology by crossing African rice and Asian rice which was said very difficult.

Rice farming in Africa is mainly on the dry land or the limited area where is blessed with rain. For this type of farming environment, they have to use African rice which tolerate to dryness and weeds but the weak point of the rice is low crop, so the crop is not enough to feed the population of the area that forced them to import the rice.

NERICA ( NEw RIce for afriCA) changed the situation dramatically. NERICA has both good characters of African and Asian rice that is African tolerance to the severe environment and quick growing with Asian high productivity.

The birth of NERICA that has the supreme potential to improve the productivity of African farmers gathered the international attention and it spread to other countries.

Today, farming test is held in more than 30 countries and more than 250 thousands hectares are cultivated for NERICA in Guinea, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoir, Benin, Rwanda, Uganda after the year 2003.

NERICA has not only improved the income of African farmers but also to stabilized the economics of the countries by reducing the outflow of foreign currency to import rice.

Dr. Jones who is the secretary general of "Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa" ( FARA ) try to make the produtct of NERICA in Africa double in 10 years with the cooperation of governments, private corporations and the developing organizations of United Nations. He also led the FARA project of " Framework for African Agricultural Productivity"(FAAP) which confirmed by African governments in 2006.

He is the chairperson of "Global Forum on Agricultural Research" and also his activities in the field of various international projects including "Green Revolution of Africa" cover very large part of the food improving movement in Africa.

Dr. Jones was selected as the one of " The most influential 100 persons in the world" in 2007 by Time magazine.

Prof. Yuan LongPing is the founder of the hybrid rice research in China and the international prince of the breeder of hybrid rice by using heterosis. Some praised that the development of hybrid rice would be equal to the Chinese Four Great Inventions.

The hybrid rice that developed by Prof. Yuan improved "the world food problem" that is caused by the increasing population and the decreasing farming land by the desertification or urbanization.

In early 1960s, Prof. Yuan began to think that the rice is the only answer to save the many Chinese persons who are suffering from starvation. In such days he found the rich grown rice than usual and later he noticed that the rice is the hybrid vigor (hetrosis).

That was his start of the hybrid rice research. He began his quest of hybrid rice in 1964. After nine years of hard work, he successfully developed the hybrid rice in 1973. This hybrid rice has 20% more yield than elite inbreed varieties, it's planting area increased rapidly year after year.

Prof. Yuan was not satisfied with his past success. He kept on his exploration. In 1987, he was elected the principal investigator, leading national key project of hybrid rice.

After many failed trials, he developed a comprehensive array of theory and techniques and finally succeeded in 1995. It has been proven that this new type hybrid yields 5-10% more than the older type hybrid. The grain quality is also improved. To secure grain supply, many countries have started super rice research since 1980s. Japan was the first to initiate such project and then The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture initiated super rice breeding program in 1996. This program had two stage goals. The first stage super rice breeding program in 1996. This program had two stage goals. The first stage was implemented during 1996-2000, with the goal to increase rice yield from 8.5 t/ha to 10.5 t/ha. The second stage was implemented during 2001-2005, with a goal to increase to 12 t/ha.

Prof. Yuan assumed the responsibility to develop super hybrid rice. Based on his rich experience, solid knowledge and the understanding of new situation in international rice research, he laid out a road map. Under the guidance of this road map, his team has fulfilled the first and second stage yield goals in the year 2000 and 2004 respectively.

Currently, his team is charged to reach the 13.5 t/ha landmark of the third stage super hybrid rice and the team is expected to accomplish the objectives by 2012.

In recent years, the area under hybrid rice has account for 65% of Chinese total rice output. As such, the increased output can feed additional 70 million people.

Organized by FAO＆IRRI, many hybrid rice workshops and training courses have been offered and more than 2000 people received training.

In the year 2007, hybrid rice was grown in India, Vietnam, Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and USA to improve their food supply. This will be a significant contribution to the security of food supply and world peace.

Dr.Fumihiro Fujimori, the associate professor of Tokyo Kasei University is the specialist of the genome science.

He developed the large-scale database of the mushroom genetic code (cDNA) in cooperation with "Yukiguni Maitake Corp."(mushroom company, Japan) and "HyphaGenesis Corp"(Japan).

Because they used traditional technique and the experience of trial and error to breed the types of mushroom so far, there is no scientific verification to apply to industrial and medical use of them and that has caused the delay of development in this area.

The development of "the genetic code database of mushroom" will create the new progress in this field.

It takes more than several years to develop the new types of mushrooms of better taste, but with the Database, by specifying the genetic code, they not only shorten the growing term and increase the productivity but also to make it possible to develop the precious kind like truffe artificially.

They say some ingredient of mushroom has effect to suffocate the growth of cancer cell but there is no scientific resolution to prove it yet. Also, the Database is very useful to specify the medicinal effect of mushroom to cancer.

There is the possibility that the Database is utilized in other medical field.

The structure called "Lipid raft" which is the part of human cell membrane is thought as the entrance of various viruses into the body. Dr. Fujimori in cooperation with RIKEN Research (Japan) discovered the gene of mushroom that combines specifically to Lipid raft of human body and it would be the new possibility to prevent the invasion of virus. Like these examples, the Database that was developed by Dr. Fujimori will contribute as the firm basis for the research of various fields.