Genome Editing Technologies to Improve Health-Related Phytocompounds in Crops

Abstract

Due to rapid global population growth and the resulting significant increase in food demand, the world is facing an epidemic of malnutrition. Although yield improvement remains one of the main targets of breeding programs, much attention is being paid to the nutritional aspects of crops, including nutrients and bioactive compounds that are often important for general human health and disease prevention. Phytocompounds such as allergens, antinutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, and fatty acids are among the most important classes of chemical substances that affect human health and thus contribute to the nutritional value of crops. Conventional breeding for these traits consists of laborious and time-consuming methods, but recent advances in new genome editing (GE) technologies offer a valuable, time-saving, and cost-effective alternative. The article reports on the extensive use of GE tools to modify the content of health-relevant bio-compounds and to obtain crops with higher nutritional quality.