What Is Gene Editing?

This chapter begins with the basics. We explain what gene editing is, and how different techniques are used to achieve genomic edits, including Site-Directed Nucleases, Meganucleases, Zinc Finger Nuclease, TALENs, and CRISPR-Cas9. The chapter maps out a timeline of the development of genome-editing techniques, discussing the benefits and challenges of each, with most recently CRISPR-Cas9. We provide examples of applications of gene editing in agrifood plant breeding. Despite the advantages of CRISPR-Cas9, other genome editing techniques may offer useful tools to address the challenges of agrifood production in the twenty-first century. Nevertheless, CRISPR-Cas9 technology remains the dominant approach to genome editing.