Engineering Climate-Resilient Crops: Integrating Genome Editing, Multi-Omics, and Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Agriculture
Keywords:
climate-resilient crops, genome editing, CRISPR-Cas, abiotic stress tolerance, multi-omicsAbstract
Climate change poses unprecedented threats to global food security, with rising temperatures, drought, salinity, flooding, and emerging pests projected to reduce crop yields by 15-25% by 2050. This comprehensive review examines how modern biotechnology can accelerate the development of climate-resilient crops to meet these challenges. We synthesize recent advances across multiple domains, including the molecular basis of stress tolerance, genome editing technologies (CRISPR-Cas, base editing, prime editing), multi-omics integration, and artificial intelligence-driven breeding platforms. The review critically evaluates successful case studies, including drought-tolerant maize in sub-Saharan Africa, submergence-tolerant rice in South Asia, and CRISPR-edited wheat, rice, and soybean varieties with enhanced abiotic stress tolerance. We discuss biosafety frameworks, regulatory landscapes across major jurisdictions, public acceptance challenges, and socioeconomic considerations affecting technology adoption. Key challenges including off-target effects, trait complexity, polygenic stress responses, and field validation limitations are analyzed with proposed solutions. Future perspectives highlight CRISPR 3.0 technologies, AI-assisted breeding, digital twin technologies, and climate-smart agriculture integration as transformative approaches. By integrating these innovative technologies with sustainable agricultural practices, we argue that biotechnology can significantly contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) while maintaining environmental sustainability.
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