Plant scientists are turning to genome-editing techniques to precisely tailor the productivity and consumer appeal of important crops.
. “I think there is still room to improve,” says Gao, whose team has already devised multiple strategies for upgrading the performance of prime editing, including sophisticated pegRNA designs and variants of the Cas9-based editing complex that have enhanced functions.
Researchers can achieve foreign-DNA-free transformation by delivering the materials required for editing into protoplasts — cultured plant cells that have been enzymatically stripped of their outer cell wall. Such cells are much easier for researchers to transform transiently, with either DNA or RNA reagents encoding the editing machinery.
The falling cost and increasing efficiency of genomic analysis technologies should be a boon here, and efforts are under way to begin applying some of the techniques routinely used in clinical genetics to agricultural sectors.
Success could open the door to some truly transformative applications, including future-proofing global agriculture against the impacts of climate change. Puchta notes that attempts to bolster drought-resistance or salt-tolerance by transplanting individual genes have made only limited headway. But he sees considerable potential in moving in the other direction: domesticating rugged wild crops by tweaking their edibility and agronomic performance.
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