A technological and regulatory outlook on CRISPR crop editing.

Generating plants with increased yields while maintaining low production and maintenance costs is highly important since plants are the major food source for humans and animals, as well as important producers of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and fuels. Gene editing approaches, particularly the CRISPR-Cas system, are the preferred methods for improving crops, enabling quick, robust, and accurate gene manipulation. Nevertheless, new breeds of genetically modified crops have initiated substantial debates concerning their biosafety, commercial use, and regulation. Here, we discuss the challenges facing genetic engineering of crops by CRISPR-cas, and highlight the pros and cons of using this tool.