About this Research Topic
Zero hunger is the second of the sustainability development goals (SDG2) set by the United Nations in 2015 to achieve global food security by 2030. Throughout the world many staple food crops are missing critical nutrients, and feeding the world’s population with healthy food and meeting the goal of zero hunger by 2030 will require larger and more consistent crop production fulfilling the dietary requirements of the population. Gene/genome editing technologies (such as ZFNs, TALENs, CRISPR/Cas systems etc.) stand to make significant contributions to improving the nutrient density, appeal, and post-harvest quality of foods to help meet 2030 objectives.
Although transgenic and conventionally cross bred crop varieties have significantly reduced the application of insecticides and fungicides, and allowed use of less toxic herbicides, they need vigilant supervision to limit the natural selection of insect pests and weeds. In addition, issues related to cost, efficiency, bioethics, regulation, and public acceptability of transgenic crops also limit their ultimate deployment. Therefore, these technologies may not be sufficient to meet increasing demands of quality food; indeed, the UN recently stated that it would be harder to achieve the SDG2 by 2030 if the world does not change its strategy regarding crop improvement and development.
Continuous innovation in crop breeding is critical to meeting these challenges and achieving sustainable food production. In this regard, recent advances in gene editing technologies, mainly the CRISPR/Cas-based systems, make the targeted and precise genetic manipulation of crops more feasible and accelerate the transition toward precision breeding for crop improvement. The aim of this Research Topic is to cover promising, recent, and novel research trends in the gene editing technology and its applications to achieve zero and hidden hunger worldwide.
Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:
• Developments and advancements in gene editing strategies to accelerate crop improvements
• Applications of gene editing tools to achieve zero hunger
• Using gene editing to increase density of key micronutrients in food staples
• Development of plants that are more resilient to abiotic and biotic stress
• Creation of alleles that affect post-harvest quality and storage
• Changing gene variants to improve sensory quality in the industrialized world
• Gene editing to improve overall nutrition content, such as production of beneficial oils
• The use of bioinformatics and artificial intelligence to predict potential editing targets
Although transgenic and conventionally cross bred crop varieties have significantly reduced the application of insecticides and fungicides, and allowed use of less toxic herbicides, they need vigilant supervision to limit the natural selection of insect pests and weeds. In addition, issues related to cost, efficiency, bioethics, regulation, and public acceptability of transgenic crops also limit their ultimate deployment. Therefore, these technologies may not be sufficient to meet increasing demands of quality food; indeed, the UN recently stated that it would be harder to achieve the SDG2 by 2030 if the world does not change its strategy regarding crop improvement and development.
Continuous innovation in crop breeding is critical to meeting these challenges and achieving sustainable food production. In this regard, recent advances in gene editing technologies, mainly the CRISPR/Cas-based systems, make the targeted and precise genetic manipulation of crops more feasible and accelerate the transition toward precision breeding for crop improvement. The aim of this Research Topic is to cover promising, recent, and novel research trends in the gene editing technology and its applications to achieve zero and hidden hunger worldwide.
Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:
• Developments and advancements in gene editing strategies to accelerate crop improvements
• Applications of gene editing tools to achieve zero hunger
• Using gene editing to increase density of key micronutrients in food staples
• Development of plants that are more resilient to abiotic and biotic stress
• Creation of alleles that affect post-harvest quality and storage
• Changing gene variants to improve sensory quality in the industrialized world
• Gene editing to improve overall nutrition content, such as production of beneficial oils
• The use of bioinformatics and artificial intelligence to predict potential editing targets
Keywords: Gene Editing, New Plant Breeding Technologies, Climate Change, Zero Hunger, Food Security
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