Tiny CRISPR tool opens door to faster, simpler plant genome editing

Tiny CRISPR tool opens door to faster, simpler plant genome editing

Plant breeding plays a vital role in ensuring global food security by increasing crop yields, improving nutritional quality and creating crops that are adaptable to climate change. However, current plant transformation methods present significant hurdles—they're labor-intensive, costly and don't work for many important plant species.

Researchers Say New Method Speeds Up Crop Editing

Plant breeding is a key tool for addressing global food security by improving crop yields, nutritional quality and resilience to climate change. But traditional plant transformation methods are often inefficient, expensive and incompatible with many important species. A new study led by UCLA and published in Nature Plants introduces a simpler approach: a heritable, transgene-free genome editing technique using a compact CRISPR system delivered b…