The Potential for Genome Editing in Plant Breeding

Abstract

Innovations in plant breeding have made important contributions to food security and sustainability. Genome editing, a group of techniques that make it possible to precisely modify genome sequences, has a high potential to further advance crop breeding. The invention of the genome editing tool called CRISPR-Cas9 has made it particularly easy and cost-effective to modify a crops genome rapidly and in a precise and predictable way. The tool also makes it possible to modify multiple traits simultaneously. Another advantage of genome editing is that it does not require the introduction of genetic material from other species, an approach that is used in breeding genetically modified (GM) crops, which has been problematic for regulatory approval in several regions of the world. However, it still remains unclear how genome edited crops will be regulated and, hence, to what extent their full potential can be realized. This chapter provides a discussion of the food security and sustainability potentials from genome editing, as well as a discussion of the current global regulatory challenges.