Genome-Editing Products Line up for the Market: Will Europe Harvest the Benefits from Science and Innovation?

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technologies have revolutionized genome editing, significantly advancing the improvement of cultivated crop species. This review provides an overview of genome-edited crops that have either reached the market or received the necessary approvals but are not yet available to consumers. We analyze various genome-editing studies to understand the distribution of different genome-editing systems, the types of site-directed nucleases employed, and the geographical spread of these studies, with a specific focus on global and European contexts. Additionally, we examine the target crops involved. The review also outlines the multiple steps required for the legal acceptance of genome-edited crops within European jurisdictions. We conclude with suggestions for the future prospects of genome-editing research in Europe, aiming to streamline the approval process and enhance the development and adoption of genome-edited crops.