<p>Tobacco cultivation is important to the global economy and is the subject of genetic improvement efforts to enhance its characteristics. Improvement includes traditional and modern techniques, such as genetic transformation and marker-assisted selection, contributing to increased profitability of farmers and competitiveness in the tobacco industry. The main objective of this study is to identify, quantify, and contextualize research related to the genetic improvement of tobacco, focusing on resistance and productivity. A systematic review was conducted using the StArt software, and renowned databases were selected: PubMed, Scopus, Scielo, and Web of Science. The search string "<i>Nicotiana tabacum</i>" and "genetic improvement" or "genetics" was used to find articles published from 2019 to 2023. Inclusion criteria were established, such as publications in peer-reviewed journals in English and relevance to the genetic improvement of <i>N. tabacum.</i> Manuals, reports, reviews, and duplicates were excluded. During the evaluated period, we identified 97 relevant articles on tobacco. After selection, 41 articles were included, with most studies pertaining to Asia, especially China, covering various areas, including genetic improvement for stress tolerance; genetic engineering; gene editing, gene studies and gene expression; disease response and resistance; as well as plant physiology and metabolism. The research focused on topics such as optimizing tobacco varieties resistant to environmental stresses, improvements in response to viral infections, genetic engineering to increase resistance, and strategies to enhance plant metabolism. Overall, these studies reflect the continuous advancements in the genetic improvement of <i>Nicotiana tabacum</i> and the growing application of genetic engineering and gene editing techniques to improve tobacco production and resistance to environmental challenges.</p>