The leech breeding center has been established in Wujiang City on the shore of Taihu Lake, the first of its kind in China
China's first leech breeding center has been established in Wujiang City on the shore of Taihu Lake
The "Nanjing Agricultural University Wujiang Taihu Leech Breeding Center," jointly prepared and established by Nanjing Agricultural University and the Suzhou Wujiang City Tuncun Diversified Operation Service Company, was recently inaugurated with a plaque ceremony in Wujiang on the east shore of Taihu Lake.
According to Dr. Guo Qiaosheng, technical consultant to the center and director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Teaching and Research Section at Nanjing Agricultural University: the traditional Chinese medicine leech refers to the dried bodies of leeches of the leech family, including the medicinal leech, the willow-leaf leech and the leech. Leeches have a long history of use as medicine, recorded as early as in China's famous medical classic "Shennong Bencao Jing" (The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica). They have the effects of anticoagulation and breaking blood stasis, and in traditional Chinese medicine they are mainly used to treat thrombosis, vascular diseases, glaucoma, blood stasis with obstruction, unnamed toxic swellings, scrofula and other conditions.
In the 1950s, a British chemist named MacWatt overcame all obstacles and finally discovered a mysterious substance -- hirudin. Hirudin is present in only tiny amounts in the leech's body, but it is extraordinarily powerful: just a few micrograms will prevent blood from clotting. The reason a leech can continuously suck human blood after attaching itself to the body is precisely because it releases hirudin from its mouth. At present, hirudin extracted from leeches has already shown its great value in medicine. Clinical trials have demonstrated that it can relieve spasms of the arterial arm, lower blood viscosity, dilate blood vessels, increase blood circulation and promote the absorption of exudates. Therefore hirudin has a very wide range of uses and can treat difficult conditions such as high blood pressure and myocardial infarction.
With the continuous deepening and development of modern medical research on leeches, demand for leeches at home and abroad has gradually increased, while wild resources have become increasingly depleted, making the contradiction between supply and demand very prominent. In recent years it has become one of the world's scarce traditional Chinese medicinal materials. Because of the decrease in quantity and the increase in demand, the purchase price of leeches has repeatedly climbed; the current market price has reached 18Q-200 yuan/kg, and sometimes it has even reached the point where there is a price but no goods. For this reason, many countries abroad, such as the United Kingdom and Russia, are devoting themselves to research on artificial breeding and cultivation technology. The United Kingdom established a leech scientists association in the 1980s and also set up a biological products company. The Moscow International Medical Leech Research Center in Russia raises more than 1.5 million leeches each year and has formed a unique industry. Research has found that, in addition to live leeches and medicines processed from leeches being able to treat many diseases, leech extracts can also be made into cosmetic medicines with remarkably good effects. At present, the center sells large quantities of related products and live leeches every year to countries such as the United States and Spain.
In China, leeches were formerly used as a traditional Chinese medicinal material, and there was never any worry about shortage. The leech is a living organism, and its growth and reproduction are closely related to natural climate and human activity. As a wild medicinal material resource, the leech, although a renewable resource, does not have unlimited growth intensity and reproductive rate. Our Jiangsu Province was once a major province for leech resources, in the areas of Hongze Lake, Gaoyou Lake and the Taihu Lake basin. The climatic and geographical environment is suitable for leech growth, and for a long time they were widely distributed and very numerous. Before the end of the 1980s, supplying more than a hundred tons of goods each year was no problem, but in recent years it has been widely reported that supply is tight, with annual output less than 20 percent of the original.
In response to the above situation, experts from Nanjing Agricultural University began research work on artificial breeding of leeches three years ago. Through observation and research on the natural development patterns and growth habits of leeches, natural seedling rearing and factory seedling rearing of leeches, and efficient leech-aquatic plant co-cultivation models, phased results have already been achieved. In order to transform these into productive forces as quickly as possible, and given the unique natural conditions of Taihu Lake, Nanjing Agricultural University cooperated with the local area to form the "Nanjing Agricultural University Wujiang Taihu Leech Breeding Center," a scientific and technological entity, so as to further carry out research, development and technical extension work in related areas.
According to Dr. Guo Qiaosheng, technical consultant to the center and director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Teaching and Research Section at Nanjing Agricultural University: the traditional Chinese medicine leech refers to the dried bodies of leeches of the leech family, including the medicinal leech, the willow-leaf leech and the leech. Leeches have a long history of use as medicine, recorded as early as in China's famous medical classic "Shennong Bencao Jing" (The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica). They have the effects of anticoagulation and breaking blood stasis, and in traditional Chinese medicine they are mainly used to treat thrombosis, vascular diseases, glaucoma, blood stasis with obstruction, unnamed toxic swellings, scrofula and other conditions.
In the 1950s, a British chemist named MacWatt overcame all obstacles and finally discovered a mysterious substance -- hirudin. Hirudin is present in only tiny amounts in the leech's body, but it is extraordinarily powerful: just a few micrograms will prevent blood from clotting. The reason a leech can continuously suck human blood after attaching itself to the body is precisely because it releases hirudin from its mouth. At present, hirudin extracted from leeches has already shown its great value in medicine. Clinical trials have demonstrated that it can relieve spasms of the arterial arm, lower blood viscosity, dilate blood vessels, increase blood circulation and promote the absorption of exudates. Therefore hirudin has a very wide range of uses and can treat difficult conditions such as high blood pressure and myocardial infarction.
With the continuous deepening and development of modern medical research on leeches, demand for leeches at home and abroad has gradually increased, while wild resources have become increasingly depleted, making the contradiction between supply and demand very prominent. In recent years it has become one of the world's scarce traditional Chinese medicinal materials. Because of the decrease in quantity and the increase in demand, the purchase price of leeches has repeatedly climbed; the current market price has reached 18Q-200 yuan/kg, and sometimes it has even reached the point where there is a price but no goods. For this reason, many countries abroad, such as the United Kingdom and Russia, are devoting themselves to research on artificial breeding and cultivation technology. The United Kingdom established a leech scientists association in the 1980s and also set up a biological products company. The Moscow International Medical Leech Research Center in Russia raises more than 1.5 million leeches each year and has formed a unique industry. Research has found that, in addition to live leeches and medicines processed from leeches being able to treat many diseases, leech extracts can also be made into cosmetic medicines with remarkably good effects. At present, the center sells large quantities of related products and live leeches every year to countries such as the United States and Spain.
In China, leeches were formerly used as a traditional Chinese medicinal material, and there was never any worry about shortage. The leech is a living organism, and its growth and reproduction are closely related to natural climate and human activity. As a wild medicinal material resource, the leech, although a renewable resource, does not have unlimited growth intensity and reproductive rate. Our Jiangsu Province was once a major province for leech resources, in the areas of Hongze Lake, Gaoyou Lake and the Taihu Lake basin. The climatic and geographical environment is suitable for leech growth, and for a long time they were widely distributed and very numerous. Before the end of the 1980s, supplying more than a hundred tons of goods each year was no problem, but in recent years it has been widely reported that supply is tight, with annual output less than 20 percent of the original.
In response to the above situation, experts from Nanjing Agricultural University began research work on artificial breeding of leeches three years ago. Through observation and research on the natural development patterns and growth habits of leeches, natural seedling rearing and factory seedling rearing of leeches, and efficient leech-aquatic plant co-cultivation models, phased results have already been achieved. In order to transform these into productive forces as quickly as possible, and given the unique natural conditions of Taihu Lake, Nanjing Agricultural University cooperated with the local area to form the "Nanjing Agricultural University Wujiang Taihu Leech Breeding Center," a scientific and technological entity, so as to further carry out research, development and technical extension work in related areas.