Synthetic genetic circuits in crop plants

- Genetic circuits have the potential to accelerate crop improvement.
- Successful genetic circuits are currently made from heterologous, composable parts.
- Higher throughput methods for gene delivery into crop plants are needed.
- Gene stacking technologies will be essential.
- Consumers and regulators need to be engaged, and concerns adequately addressed.

The love affair between crop breeding and genetics began over a century ago and has continued unabated, from mass selection programs to targeted genome modifications. Synthetic genetic circuits, a recent development, are combinations of regulatory and coding DNA introduced into a crop plant to achieve a desired function. Genetic circuits could accelerate crop improvement, allowing complex traits to be rationally designed and requisite DNA parts delivered directly into a genome of interest. However, there is not yet a standardized pipeline from exploratory laboratory testing to crop trials, and bringing transgenic products to market remains a considerable barrier. We highlight successes so far and future developments necessary to make genetic circuits a viable crop improvement technology over this century.

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