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Potential of commercialization of genome-edited crops

People’s needs and desires for the diversity of food and food products have compelled plant breeders to invent proficient technologies for precise genetic modification such as genome editing (GE) for rapid modification of traits which otherwise would take millions of years under natural conditions. The technologies that include the use of site-directed nucleases technologies, oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis, zinc-finger nucleases, meganucleases, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-Cas, transcription activator-like effector nucleases, etcetera, revolutionize crop development, enable rapid improvement of qualitative and quantitative traits, and add to the diversity of crops and crops products to meet the needs of a growing population with its increased preferences and purchasing capacities. GE products face policy obstacles and uncertainties owing to acceptance or rejection by consumers. Countries like the United States of America, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, etcetera, have developed policies and strict regulatory mechanisms for the commercialization of GE crops. The European Union and a few other countries have stricter regulations. While the technology has leaped from a transgenic genetic modification (GM) system to a cisgenic system of GE, the consumers’ and critics’ knowledge revolve around the GM debate that has created hurdles in the commercialization of GE crops. This chapter contains scenarios of GE crops and necessary recommendations.

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