Question

Presently, which of the following advanced molecular methods is used to develop crops with enhanced traits and resilience?

• A. Artificial pollination
• B. Hybrid seed technology
• C. CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing
• D. Natural selection

Answer 1

Answer:

C. CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing

Currently, CRISPR-Cas9 (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats - associated protein) technology is being used in crop breeding practices to improve traits such as drought tolerance, nutrition and disease resistance The aim of this review is to explore the use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology in developing climate resilient crops for mitigation of food insecurity and hunger and the attendant implications for small holder farmers in Africa. A comprehensive systematic search of peer reviewed articles in three bibliographic databases, PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar, was conducted to identify documents relevant to applications and implications of CRISPR-mediated genome editing in crop improvement in the African context.