Prof. Quanjia Chen is a professor and vice dean of the College of Agriculture at Xinjiang Agricultural University. He is also a member of the Standing Council of the Xinjiang Cotton Society and a member of the Xinjiang Agricultural Society. He graduated from Xinjiang Agricultural University with a major in agronomy (1995). He received his MSc in agronomy from Xinjiang Agricultural University with a major in crop genetics and breeding in 2004. He earned his PhD in agronomy from China Agricultural University (2014). Since 1995, he has been engaged in genetic breeding teaching and research at the College of Agriculture of Xinjiang Agricultural University. He was awarded the Outstanding Young Science and Technology Talent of the Autonomous Region Youth Science and Technology Innovation Talent Training Project (2015). He mainly engages in cotton breeding and transgenic research and established the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system of upland cotton and sea island cotton.
Prof. Yanying Qu is a professor at Xinjiang Agricultural University, the head of the key discipline of crop genetics and breeding in the autonomous region, and the head of the postdoctoral research station of crop science at Xinjiang Agricultural University. She is currently a director of the Xinjiang Agricultural Society, a director of the Xinjiang Genetics Society, and a member of the Seed Industry Collaboration Group of the National Agricultural Extension Master Professional Degree Education Steering Committee. She graduated from Xinjiang Agricultural University (1984) and received her MSc in crop genetics and breeding from Xinjiang Agricultural University (2000). She earned her PhD in crop genetics and breeding from China Agricultural University (2006). She has researched molecular breeding of upland cotton and sea island cotton, molecular markers for drought resistance in rice, and molecular markers for high sugar content in sugar beets. She pioneered the Agrobacterium-mediated sea island cotton transgenic technology system and obtained a national invention patent.
