Challenges, Advancements, and Opportunities in Genome Editing: A Medicinal Plant Perspective

Medicinal plants are traditionally known to play indispensable role as a preventive and curative agent of several disorders. This property in these plants is mainly due to the presence of different therapeutic agents, viz. bioactive secondary metabolites. As a result, these plants are known as natural antioxidants. However, the enhancement of secondary metabolites through cell culture approach has numerous limitations. Alternate methods for the yield enhancement could be conventional plant breeding and genetic engineering or genome editing approach. Advancement in next-generation sequencing approach has immense potential of identification and exploration of the significant transcripts or enzymes related to secondary metabolite biosynthesis pathway. Introduction of targeted genome editing has become an exceptional tool for the manipulation of genes regulating secondary metabolite biosynthesis pathways. Recent advancement in genome editing practices viz. Oligonucleotide Directed Mutagenesis (ODM), Meganucleases, Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs), Transcriptional Activator-like Effector Nucleases (TALENs) and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) are continuously opening some new dimensions in the era of genetic manipulation. This chapter discusses various genome editing techniques, their comparison and application. It also includes some recent instances of enhanced therapeutic plants that have been made utilising these techniques. Additionally, future prospects for genome editing techniques and their engagement in regulatory measures for the enrichment of medicinal plants are also highlighted.