Application Of Nanotechnology In Genetic Improvement In Crops

Plant genetic engineering is at the epicenter of environmental sustainability endeavors, synthesis of natural products of commercial and pharmaceutical value, while also addressing the ever-expanding food and energy requirements of an ever-growing global population impacting the global climate in more ways than one. Though the importance of this field has been emphasized, still progress remains at a slow pace, partly owing to the drawbacks of conventional plant biotransformation approaches such as limited host range, below par transformation efficiencies, cellular toxicity, in addition to foreign DNA integration into the host genome. These drawbacks are additionally supported by the presence of plant cell wall which has been a limiting checkpoint for essential exogenous biomolecules entry. Nanotechnology, with its well-established impact on the materials, electronics, energy, and medical sectors, has found a new role in plant genetic engineering. Nanomaterials with their unique physicochemical properties have attracted immense interest from plant scientists and are the solution to the conventional limitations faced in plant biotransformation. A wide array of nanoparticles have been already studied for carrying and delivering sensitive cargo (DNA, RNA, proteins) to specific cells without any damage to the cargo or the host. This chapter deals with such nanomaterials, their success, challenges and future scope in agriculture.