Scaling up neodomestication for climate-ready crops

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Plant Science
• Genetics

Background:

• Food systems face increasing instability due to environmental variability and climate change.
• Traditional crop varieties may not be resilient enough for future environmental conditions.
• Neodomestication offers a strategy to develop new, climate-resilient food sources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the potential of neodomestication for enhancing food system stability.
• To outline a framework for selecting candidate wild edible plants based on climatic parameters.
• To emphasize the importance of conservation and ethical utilization of genetic resources.

Main Methods:

• Leveraging advances in comparative genomics and gene editing technologies.
• Implementing a candidate selection pipeline prioritizing climatic parameters for resilience.
• Focusing on the conservation and characterization of edible wild plant species.

Main Results:

• Neodomestication enables rapid generation of novel crops suited for changing climates.
• Climatically-oriented selection increases the potential for climate change adaptation in agriculture.
• Conservation and characterization of wild edible species are crucial for successful neodomestication.

Conclusions:

• Neodomestication is a viable strategy to bolster food security in the face of climate change.
• Integrating genomics, gene editing, and climate data accelerates crop development.
• Ethical considerations and benefit-sharing are paramount when utilizing community-held genetic resources.