Vegetable Crop Improvement Through CRISPR Technology for Food Security

In the current agricultural scenario, high nutritional value and yield are the major goals to deal with increasing population and malnutrition. Vegetable crops include a wide variety of species having high genetic diversity and form a crucial part of the human diet worldwide. Recent biotechnological interventions have allowed for incorporation of desired traits into target varieties. Among these interventions, genome editing has gained widespread application at a rapid pace. Tools like zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) and CRISPR/Cas have been utilized extensively and curated accordingly for the improvement of vegetable crops. This chapter focuses on the progress and challenges pertaining to CRISPR/Cas and will also shed light on the biosafety aspect of genome editing in vegetable germplasms globally.