ABSTRACT
Genome editing technologies rely on engineered endonucleases that cleave DNA in a sequence-specific manner because of the presence of a sequence-specific DNA-binding domain or RNA sequence. The words “genome editing” define the use of a suite of site-directed nucleases (SDN) capable of cutting or otherwise modifying predetermined DNA sequences in the genome. Examples of SDNs are: zinc-finger nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nuclease, and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. Others such as meganucleases and oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis also exist as yet unpublished molecules with genome-editing potential. Meganucleases or homing endonuclease, endodeoxyribonucleases characterized by a large recognition site, were the class of sequence-specific nucleases used in plants, and they continue to be deployed to achieve complex genome modifications. The fact that genome-edited plants temporarily contained the gene for cutting protein would make them and their descendants genetically modified plants forever - despite the fact that the foreign gene was removed without trace.
