How we’ll reengineeer crops for a changing climate

Abstract

Efforts to improve the genetics of food crops are as old as agriculture. Crossbreeding plants to select for traits is nothing new, but synthetic biology techniques, including CRISPR-Cas9 and other gene-editing systems, have sped up the process and made new approaches possible. As climate change threatens the world’s food-growing systems, plant scientists, industry, and governments hope to use these powerful methods to make plants hardier and land more productive. Here are some of their targets. Resisting disease Researchers say it is not always clear how rising CO2 levels will affect the relationship between crops and disease, but changes in temperature and water availability can make plants more susceptible to disease. The genomes of many bananas and plantains share a dangerous secret that illustrates this: a virus that can cause farmers to lose their harvests. The banana streak disease, which primarily affects the leaves, is activated under stress conditions such as