Storyline: China turns to gene chips to boost tomato breeding [Voice_over] Chinese scientists have cracked the code of tomato farming with gene chip technology. Gene chip technology is a tool that lets scientists study thousands of plant genes at the same time, but faster and cheaper than traditional gene observation methods. At a seed lab in Beijing, scientists unveiled the country's first independently developed solid-phase gene chip for tomato breeding. The domestically developed and manufactured tech is expected to slash the cost of genetic testing by 70 percent, shorten breeding processes, and ultimately reduce reliance on imports. [Sound_bite] Zhao Yanjie, Head, Seed lab in Beijing: "One single chip can simultaneously test 24 samples, with such a small area for each sample packed with 65,000 detection points. By combining this chip with the breeding accelerator, we can reduce the breeding time by two-thirds." [Voice_over] Scientists say the chip is expected to hit the market by the end of the year. Customs data shows that China imported about 458 million U.S. dollars-worth of seeds, fruits, and spores last year, with about 50 percent being vegetable seeds. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]