Biotech Updates

Developing Better Cereal Crops with TALENs

January 24, 2024

Improving cereal crops is vital for ensuring global food security. This is according to the chapter on gene editing tools authored by Arunima Chakraborty from the book Application of ZFNs and TALENs for Improvement in Cereal Crops.

Conventional breeding tools are vital in the improvement of crops, but they have limitations. For instance, introducing precise genetic modifications can be tedious and time-consuming, often involving undesirable traits. This is where cutting-edge genome editing Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALENs) come into play.

According to the book chapter, TALENs are easy to use, very precise, and can be used to target any gene. At present, the tool is still expensive to develop and use, but as the tool continues to improve, it is expected that TALENs will become more affordable soon. TALENs have been used to improve cereal crops, such as brown plant hopper-resistant rice, drought and heat-tolerant wheat, and more nutritious barley varieties.

Read the chapter in ResearchGate (login required) or purchase the book via Amazon.


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