PLANT GENOME EDITING : ADVANCES AND PROSPECTS OF MARKET-READY FOOD CROPS

Genome-editing biotechnologies, such as clustered regularly inter-spaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas), are disrupting both the research and commercial genomics industries. Genome editing has become a major tool within both the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Green Revolution 2.0, making claim to revolutionise healthcare, environmental conservation, agriculture, and food security. With the technology rapidly advancing the fields of plant genomics and breeding, an increasing number of gene-edited food crops are now launching to both industry and consumer markets. New market-ready gene-edited food crops and products include a healthier soya bean oil and the first consumer-harvested CRISPR/Cas crop, the Sicilian Rouge High GABA tomato. However, as gene-edited crops begin to arrive on the market, debates previously seen with GMOs surrounding social acceptance, bioethics, and changing regulatory environments for agriculture and food safety are being renewed. In this article, we provide an overview of plant genome-editing technologies, including CRISPR/Cas, transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs); market-ready gene-edited food crops; and regulatory environments across the world.