Plants (Basel, Switzerland)Oct 16, 2026

Recent Progress and Uses of Genome Editing for Precise Crop Breeding

CRISPR Gene Editing Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Oct 17, 2026

Abstract

Genome editing technologies, including CRISPR-Cas, are enhancing crop improvement by enabling precise genetic modifications.

CRISPR-Cas technologies now include a range of advanced methods such as base and prime editing, transcriptional regulation, and multiplex editing.
These methods can develop valuable genetic traits in crops, improving characteristics like plant architecture, yield, and resistance to environmental stresses.
Current research is shifting focus from modifying single genes to engineering multiple genes and regulatory elements, especially in polyploid crops.
Successful application of these technologies requires efficient methods for delivering edits, recovering heritable edited plants, and validating changes in diverse environments.
Integration with advanced techniques like artificial intelligence and multi-omics could enhance the precision of target identification and allele design in crop breeding.

Simplified

Genome editing is becoming an important tool for crop improvement by enabling precise modification of genetic variation. CRISPR-Cas technologies have expanded beyond nuclease-induced mutations to include base and prime editing, transcriptional and epigenetic regulation, multiplex editing, organelle editing and targeted DNA insertion. These advances support the development of agronomically valuable alleles and extend crop improvement beyond conventional selection, recombination and random mutagenesis. Applications now include plant architecture, yield-related traits, resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, seed composition and nutritional quality, and extend to de novo domestication, haploid induction and hybrid breeding. Current research is increasingly moving from single-gene modification toward the engineering of promoters, cis-regulatory elements, quantitative alleles and multiple-gene editing, particularly in polyploid crops. Wider breeding applications will depend on efficient delivery and regeneration, recovery of transgene-free and heritable edited germplasm, reliable targeted insertion and validation across relevant environments. Integration with pangenomics, multi-omics, phenomics, artificial intelligence and predictive breeding may further improve target identification, allele design and prediction of editing outcomes, thereby supporting the development of more precise and efficient crop-breeding strategies.

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Recent Progress and Uses of Genome Editing for Precise Crop Breeding

Abstract

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