Nano-enabled plant genetic engineering for stress resilience: current advances and future directions

Plant productivity and food security are increasingly threatened by abiotic and biotic stresses intensified by climate change. Plant genetic engineering offers powerful solutions to enhance stress resilience; however, conventional transformation approaches remain constrained by limited host range, low precision, tissue culture dependency, and regulatory concerns. In this context, nanotechnology has emerged as a transformative enabling platform for precise, efficient, and species-independent delivery of genetic cargo into plant systems. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in nano-enabled plant genetic engineering for stress resilience, highlighting the role of diverse nanocarriers, including carbon-based nanomaterials (NMs), metal and metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs), polymer-based nanocarriers, and metal-organic frameworks in delivering DNA, RNA interference constructs, and genome-editing components. These nanoplatforms overcome key biological barriers, protect nucleic acids from degradation, and enable controlled, targeted, and often transgene-free genetic modulation. Beyond delivery, many NMs exhibit intrinsic bioactivity, which can synergistically enhance plant stress tolerance through redox regulation, nutrient supplementation, and activation of stress-responsive pathways. The review also critically discusses regulatory and biosafety challenges associated with nano-enabled delivery systems, emphasizing the need for harmonized frameworks tailored to NMs-specific properties. Finally, future perspectives are outlined, focusing on biodegradable nanocarriers, organelle-specific targeting, and integration with CRISPR-based technologies to advance sustainable, precise, and climate-resilient crop improvement strategies.