The CRISPR-Cas system serves as a bacterial defense mechanism against invading genetic elements such as viruses and plasmids, forming the foundation for its adaptation as a powerful genome-editing tool. Originally discovered in prokaryotes, this system has been repurposed to revolutionize genetic engineering across a wide range of organisms, including plants, animals, and humans. The core component, Cas9, is an endonuclease derived from Streptococcus pyogenes, capable of introducing...

Crop cultivation has a long history in human civilization, with records showing the cultivation of cereal plants beginning at around 8000 BC. This early plant breeding was developed primarily to provide a steady supply of food.

Overview

Genome editing technologies allow scientists to modify an organism’s DNA via the addition, removal, or rearrangement of genetic material at specific genomic locations. These types of techniques could potentially be used to cure genetic disorders such as hemophilia and sickle cell anemia. One popular and widely used DNA-editing research tool that could lead to safe and effective cures for genetic disorders is the CRISPR-Cas9 system. CRISPR-Cas9 stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced...

Recombinant DNA technology called transgenesis is often used to add a foreign gene or remove a detrimental gene from an organism. Such genetically modified organisms are called transgenic organisms.
The first-ever transgenic plant was a tobacco plant developed in 1983 that showed resistance against the tobacco mosaic virus. Since then, many transgenic plants have been developed and commercialized for improving the agricultural, ornamental, and horticultural value of a crop plant. Transgenic...

Because the DNA segments are cut and reorganized in a direction-specific manner, site-specific recombination has emerged as an efficient genetic engineering technique. Flippase and Cyclization recombinases or Flp and Cre, respectively, are two members of the tyrosine recombinase family derived from bacteriophages, that are used to mediate site-specific DNA insertions, deletions, and targeted expression of proteins in mammalian cell lines.
The recognition sites for Cre recombinase called LoxP...