About this Research Topic

Background

CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing has become a new face of molecular biology and CRISPR has been adopted in almost every field of biotechnology from agriculture to medicine. As CRISPR tools are growing at a rapid pace and their applications are rising in almost every field of biosciences, regulatory, ethical and safety concerns about this new technology are also growing. Although CRISPR has been presented precisely, off-targets also remain a concern in the scientific community. While CRISPR holds a tremendous potential to rewrite the genomic landscape of agricultural crops, how CRISPR-edited crops will be regulated, will decide the future of this technology. Therefore, regulatory aspects of CRISPR-edited crops and their derived products are particularly important because if they will be classified as genetically modified crops, their future cultivation and public acceptance will be low, especially in the EU. So far, different countries have been regulating CRISPR-edited crops differently and this difference is originating from existing definitions for genetic modifications and GMOs. CRISPR crops have started appearing in the world markets, bypassing the regulatory framework of GMOs, however, like GMO regulatory framework, the world community is again divided over policies and legal status of CRISPR edited crops. This has again started a new debate in the world about the regulation, public acceptance, and legal status of CRISPR-edited crops. Therefore, it is direly needed to have a consensus among scientists, civil society, politicians, and regulators over the definition of GMO to address the concerns associated with the regulation of genome-edited crops.

Under this scenario, this special issue is focused on collecting articles on the latest development in genome editing of plants, genome editing reagents, and their delivery tools, and regulatory triggers of genome-edited plants. In addition, it is particularly aimed at regulation and deregulation, public acceptance, socio-economic benefits, policy and governance, commercialization, and biosafety and risk evaluation of genome-edited plants.

Authors are invited to submit their Original Research, Opinions, Mini Review, and Review articles on one or more of the following sub-topics:

Section 1- CRISPR mediated genome editing in plants
a) CRISPR/Cas Technology: Emerging systems and recent developments
b) CRISPR-based techniques: Base editing, prime editing, Multiplex genome editing, Retrons coupled with CRISPR…What next?
b) CRISPR reagents and their delivery tools
c) Tracking footprints of Cas in edited plants
d) CRISPR applications in plant genetic improvement
e) Target traits in plants for CRISPR to address global challenges in agriculture, food security and climate change

Section 2: Global Regulatory Framework of CRISPR edited plants
a) Conventional GMOs and their regulatory systems (Process-based, product-based, and plants with novel traits)
b) Comparison between GMOs and CRISPR-edited plants
c) Global Regulatory aspects of CRISPRized plants
d) Regulation or deregulation of CRISPR-edited plants
e) Regulation and labelling of food and products derived from CRISPR-edited plants

Section 3: Socioeconomic aspects of CRISPR edited plants
a) Responsible use of CRISPR in plants
b) Labelling and public acceptance of CRISPRized plants: Challenges and opportunities
c) Policy and governance issues associated with CRISPR-edited plants
d) Socioeconomic impact of regulation or deregulation of CRISPRized plants
e) Ethical issues in CRISPR edited plants and organisms

Section 4: Biosafety, Risk Assessment and Commercialization of CRISPR edited plants
a) How patents in CRISPR/Cas can impact food security in developing countries
b) Biosafety and biosecurity concerns associated with CRISPR
c) Off targets and gene drives: challenges, threats, and opportunities
d) Anti-CRISPR proteins to address biosecurity issues
e) Commercialization of CRISPR/Cas technology: opportunities in agriculture

We propose a cautious approach to the regulation of CRISPRized crops, especially multiplex CRISPR edited crops and gene drives because unintended modifications may become problematic in the future. In addition, DNA-free CRISPR edited crops are touching world markets, so a universal and scalable regulatory system may help in sustainable development and scientific advancement as well.

Keywords: CRISPR-edited Plants, CRISPR-edited crops, CRISPR-derived products, CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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