Current Advancements and Limitations of Gene Editing in Orphan Crops.

Gene editing provides precise, heritable genome mutagenesis without permanent transgenesis, and has been widely demonstrated and applied . In the past decade, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas) has revolutionized the application of gene editing in crops, with mechanistic advances expanding its potential, including prime editing and base editing. To date, CRISPR/Cas has been utilized in over a dozen orphan crops with diverse genetic backgrounds, leading to novel alleles and beneficial phenotypes for breeders, growers, and consumers.