About this Research Topic

Background

Climate change stands out as the most pressing global environmental issue, posing challenges to agricultural systems. Since the 1850s, global mean temperatures have risen by 0.8 °C, and projections indicate that by the conclusion of the 21st century, the global mean temperature could be 1.8° to 4.0°C warmer than in the previous century. Primarily influenced by human activities, climate change has the potential to bring about profound changes in the Earth's atmospheric conditions, leading to alterations in temperature, precipitation patterns, and the occurrence of extreme weather events. These substantial alterations often surpass the adaptive capacity of plant and animal species.

Anticipated temperature increases, coupled with extreme weather events causing more frequent droughts and floods, are likely to result in reduced agricultural yields and impact livestock. With the global population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, any disruptions in agricultural productivity caused by climate change pose a significant threat to global food security.

Genome editing techniques have revolutionized the ability to make precise changes to the genome of an organism. The evolution of techniques, from the use of Meganucleases to the recent advancements in Base-Editing and Prime-Editing, reflects remarkable progress in this field toward greater precision and reduced off-target effects. The recent discovery of programmable RNA-guided DNA endonucleases in eukaryotes signals a promising avenue for further advancements in genome editing.

The application of genome editing holds immense potential in enhancing the resilience of both crop plants and livestock against a spectrum of challenges posed by climate change. This includes but is not limited to, mitigating the effects of abiotic factors such as extreme heat waves, temperature variations, droughts, and flooding, as well as biotic factors such as existing and emerging diseases and pests resulting from changing climatic conditions.

We invite submissions (original research articles, reviews, opinions, and perspectives) exploring the potential of available and emerging genome editing techniques to address the challenges posed by climate change. Additionally, we welcome contributions that analyze the constraints/possibilities associated with genome editing in mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change in crops and livestock, within the context of enhancing their resilience to a changing climate.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: ZFN, TALEN, CRISPR, stress tolerance, disease resistance, nutrition, yield, climate change, gene editing, plant biotechnology, animal biotechnology

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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