CRISPR/CAS9: A new paradigm for crop improvement revolutionizing agriculture

Genome editing has a long history that dates back to the 1970s with the introduction of recombinant DNA technology; fast forward three decades, the advent of Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFN) and Transcription Activator Like Effector Nuclease (TALEN) during the early 2000s marked the beginning of site-specific genome editing, and at the forefront is Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats-associated protein (CRISPR)/Cas9 discovered in 2012. CRISPR technology has experienced unprecedented growth as a tool in both pure and applied research. Gene/genome editing has been a pivotal tool for plant biologists for the functional analysis of genes and their characterization, and for plant breeders for creating variability and improving adapted cultivars. CRISPR/ Cas9, with its simplicity, efficiency, inexpensiveness and elegant way of genomic editing, offers a wide possibility to plant breeders for crop improvement. This review highlights the past accomplishment, current research and future prospects of CRISPR technology in crop improvement. Furthermore, this review summarizes how CRISPR technology is applied in different scopes of plant breeding for producing improved crops, along with a brief overview of the CRISPR/Cas9 system.