Biotechnology and Molecular Biology is a key discipline of Zhejiang A & F University and was established on the basis of top priority discipline silviculture in Zhejiang Province (the students for the master’s degree program were enrolled in 2004). Combined with the current research hotspots in biology, and the demand for economic construction in Zhejiang Province, three research directions with distinctive features and advantages have been established: the discovery and utilization of plant favorable alleles, genetic engineering and germplasm innovation, and research and utilization of plant active substances. There are eight professors and six associate professors (all are maser tutors and doctors) for the discipline, and more than 30 postgraduate students have been cultivated, many of whom have won the university Excellent Paper Award, Excellent Graduate Award and Excellent Paper Award in Zhejiang Province. The academic leader of the discipline is Professor Tang Dingqin.

In the past five years, the discipline has undertaken 11 projects for the National Natural Science Foundation of China, seven provincial foundation projects (including key projects), and nine projects for the Provincial Department of Science and Technology, withscientific research funds of more than 7 million Yuan. It has published more than 160 papers, including 35 papers in first grade journals and 46 papers collected by SCI, and obtained eight patents for inventions authorized by the state.The discipline is subordinate to the National Key Laboratory Cultivation Base for Subtropical Silviculture, and there is a Key Laboratory of Modern Silviculture Technology in Zhejiang Province, which has advanced and complete experimental facilities and research conditions.