Plant Science and Crop Enhancement - Innovation and Challenges

Plant science and crop improvement are pivotal areas in the pursuit of sustainable agriculture, responding to the increasing global food demand and climate change while considering environmental impacts. Current advancements have steered a rapid evolution in fields such as genomic and metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, epigenetics, and gene drives. These innovative technologies potentially offer transformative solutions for enhancing plant productivity, nutrient uptake, and biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. However, their novelty also requires a comprehensive evaluation of both opportunities and challenges associated with their application, as well as their safety implications.This Research Topic aims to consolidate a body of high-quality research and review articles that illuminate the applications, challenges, and safety assessments of emerging technologies in plant science. It seeks to foster a deeper understanding of how these technologies can be effectively harnessed for crop improvement while ensuring environmental integrity and public safety. The focus of this Research Topic is broad yet precise, engaging with several cutting-edge technologies and their implications for plant science. To gather further insights into the effective and safe application of these advancements, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:o Strategies to re-engineer or introduce new metabolic pathways in plants for enhanced metabolite production.o Techniques for enhancing plant-microbe interactions to boost nutrient absorption and soil health.o Innovations in photosynthesis efficiency, including novel pathways for carbon fixation.o Development of crops resilient to biotic and abiotic stresses and capable of environmental biosensing.o Advances in epigenomic editing tools for stable trait transmission.o Applications and impact assessments of gene drives in pest and disease management, and crop yield improvement.o Regulatory and biosafety assessments for new biotechnologies, encompassing risk management and public acceptance challenges. Topic editors: George Tzotzos, Jeremy Bruton Sweet, Detlef Bartsch Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/66233/plant-science-and-crop-enhancement---innovation-and-challenges