Recently, South China Botanical Garden (SCBG) signed the "employment contract" with Dr. David W. Ow, principal researcher of U.S. Department of Agriculture that from January 2010 onwards, Ow becomes a formal staff in the research field of SCBG. This means Dr. Ow has been officially "settled" in SCBG as one of the talent group introduced by "Thousand Talents Program" managed by the Central Organization Department of China.

Prof. David W. Ow, Chinese Americans, is the chief researcher of United States Department of Agriculture (the highest level of GS15 in the research series of United States Government) and an internationally renowned scientist of molecular genetics and genetic engineering. He received a doctorate from Harvard University in 1983, and was awarded as the USDA pacific West Area Senior Scientist of the Year in 2003. Dr. Ow has published 55 research papers, including two in Nature, one in Science, two in Nature Biotechnology published, six in PNAS, two in EMBO Journal and one in Genes & Development. And his top 10 papers were cited more than 2000 times. Moreover, he also owns a number of core invention patents for transgenic technology that have been used by the world's leading GM companies (such as Monsanto, etc.), which have created great economic benefits and made a great influence in the United States and around the world.

Organized by the Central Organization Department, this talents introduction program is the country's topmost-level foreign talent introduction program. All these talents should be professors or in equivalent overseas high-level positions in famous foreign universities, research institutions or companies. Prof. Ow was selected as a candidate by South China Botanical Garden for the national "Thousand Talents Program" and became one of the second group in this program in 2009.