Application of Gene Editing for Climate Change in Agriculture

Abstract

Climate change imposes a severe threat to agricultural systems, food security, and human nutrition. Meanwhile, efforts in crop and livestock gene editing have been undertaken to improve performance across a range of traits. Many of the targeted phenotypes include attributes that could be beneficial for climate change adaptation. Here, we present examples of emerging gene editing applications and research initiatives that are aimed at the improvement of crops and livestock in response to climate change, and discuss technical limitations and opportunities therein. While only few applications of gene editing have been translated to agricultural production thus far, numerous studies in research settings have demonstrated the potential for potent applications to address climate change in the near future.

Paralog editing tunes rice stomatal density to maintain photosynthesis and improve drought tolerance

“…In current climate conditions, drought is the most severe and widespread environmental stressor in South and Southeast Asia ("Climate change -ready rice | International Rice Research Institute," n.d.). Application of gene editing in crops for climate change could serve as a potent mechanism for realizing actual technology transfer to growers (Jenkins, Dobert, Atanassova, & Pavely, 2021;Karavolias, Horner, Abugu, & Evanega, 2021). Previous manipulation of epidermal patterning factors generated rice with improved drought tolerance and maintenance of yields in greenhouse conditions, albeit with reductions in An and gs (Caine et al, 2019;Dunn et al, 2019;Hughes et al, 2017).…”

Ecological and social strategies for managing fisheries using the Resist‐Accept‐Direct (RAD) framework

“…With better understanding of system dynamics, interventions to manipulate those systems and improve controllability are being cautiously considered. For example, translocations and novel genetic tools, such as gene editing, with their far‐reaching ethical implications, are being examined for application in agricultural systems (Karavolias et al, 2021) and coral restoration (Van Oppen et al, 2015), and could be more broadly considered to facilitate species and biological community adaptation to climate change.…”

Soil Remediation: Towards a Resilient and Adaptive Approach to Deal with the Ever-Changing Environmental Challenges

“…A generally positive effect of increased CO 2 on plant growth and carbon assimilation has been observed [65,68] and, thus, the application of phytoremediation on a large scale could represent an excellent strategy for fixing atmospheric CO 2 [12], thus mitigating its emissions.…”