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Breed Sci
Breed Sci
jsbbs
Breeding Science
1344-7610
1347-3735
Japanese Society of Breeding

JST.JSTAGE/jsbbs/74.1
10.1270/jsbbs.74.1
74.1
Editorial
Accelerating the development of genome-edited crops and the establishment of utilization infrastructure
Accelerating the development of genome-edited crops and the establishment of utilization infrastructure
Ezura Hiroshi 1
1 Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba
3 2024
74 1 11
Copyright © 2024 by JAPANESE SOCIETY OF BREEDING
2024
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (BY) License (CC-BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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pmcGenome-editing technology, a biological mutation induction technique, is attracting attention as a novel and effective tool for mutation breeding. In particular, after the report on CRISPR/Cas9 technology (Cong et al. 2013), a simple and efficient genome-editing technology, expectations for this technology have increased further. In Japan, the Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP: 2014–2018), a national project to verify the effectiveness of genome-editing technology in improving agricultural, forestry, and fishery products, was carried out, and genome-edited crops (tomato, potato, rice, wheat, etc.) and fish (tuna, red sea bream, puffer fish, etc.) that are expected to be put to practical use have been developed.

From these, regulatory filings for genome-edited tomatoes were completed at the end of 2020, and they began to be marketed to consumers in September 2021 and in supermarkets in 2023, becoming the first agricultural products developed using CRISP/Ca9 technology to be marketed in supermarkets in the world (Ezura 2022, Waltz 2022). Such developments and social implementation of genome-edited crops in Japan are leading the way for the social implementation of genome-edited crops around the world. Furthermore, social acceptance of genome-edited crops is also changing. Even in Europe, the most conservative region in terms of the regulation of genome-edited crops, new regulation rules for genome-edited crops were proposed in July 2023, and deliberations are underway. In conjunction with these developments, the development of new genome-editing technologies and genome-edited crops is gaining momentum around the world.

This special issue of Breeding Science introduces global trends in the regulation rules for genome-edited crops (foods) (Tachikawa and Matsuo 2024), trends in the social license for genome-edited crops in Japan (Yamaguchi et al. 2024), the development of new genome-editing technologies (Hozumi et al. 2024, Ikeda 2024), and genome-edited crops that are expected to be implemented in society in the future: wheat (Kaur et al. 2024), melon (Nonaka and Ezura 2024), and tomato (Nagamine and Ezura 2024). The development of genome-editing technology and genome-edited crops will be introduced, and I hope to provide some new ideas for researchers working on the development of these.

I thank the authors of the articles featured in this special issue for their contributions and thoughtful insights into current advances in this research field. These articles provide valuable information that can be used in future plant breeding. Finally, I would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Tsujimoto, for giving me the opportunity to edit this special issue.
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Literature Cited

Cong, L., F. Ann Ran, D. Cox, S. Lin, R. Barretto, N. Habib, P.D. Hsu, X. Wu, W, Jiang, L.A. Marraffini et al. (2013) Multiplex genome engineering using CRISPR/Cas systems. Science 339 : 819–823.23287718
Ezura, H. (2022) The world first CRISPR tomato launched to Japanese market: its impact of implementation on genome editing technology. Plant Cell Physiol 63 : 731–733.35388425
Hozumi, S., Y.C. Chen, T. Takemoto and S. Sawatsubashi (2024) Cas12a and MAD7, genome editing tools for breeding. Breed Sci 74 : 22–31.
Ikeda, K. (2024) Scarless genome editing technology and its application to crop improvement. Breed Sci 74 : 32–36.
Kaur, N., N. Brock, S. Raffan and N.G. Halford (2024) Low asparagine wheat: Europe’s first field trial of genome edited wheat amid rapidly changing regulations on acrylamide in food and genome editing of crops. Breed Sci 74 : 37–46.
Nagamine, A. and H. Ezura (2024) Genome editing of DWARF and SELF-PRUNING rapidly confers traits suitable for plant factories while retaining useful traits in tomato. Breed Sci 74 : 59–72.
Nonaka, S. and H. Ezura (2024) Possibility of genome editing for melon breeding. Breed Sci 74 : 47–58.
Tachikawa, M. and M. Matsuo (2024) Global regulatory trends of genome editing technology in agriculture and food. Breed Sci 74 : 3–10.
Waltz, E. (2022) GABA-enriched tomato is first CRISPR-edited food to enter market. Nat Biotechnol 40 : 9–11.34907351
Yamaguchi, T., K. Ezaki and K. Ito (2024) Exploring the landscape of public attitudes towards gene-edited foods in Japan. Breed Sci 74 : 11–21.
