Scientists used a plant virus to deliver a miniature gene-editing tool (CRISPR) directly into living plants, successfully editing their DNA without leaving behind any foreign genes. This approach skips the expensive, time-consuming lab tissue culture step normally required to create edited crops.
1
A miniaturized CRISPR tool (Cas12f) was successfully packaged into Tobacco Rattle Virus and delivered to Nicotiana benthamiana plants, producing visible gene knockouts confirmed by persistent leaf bleaching and DNA sequencing.
2
Fusing the CRISPR components with a transfer RNA (tRNA) tag and using the Pea early browning virus (PeBV) promoter yielded the highest editing efficiency among all tested configurations.
3
The entire system is transgene-free — no foreign DNA remains stably integrated in the edited plant — and bypasses tissue culture, a major cost and time bottleneck in conventional crop genetic engineering.
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