Researchers slot whole genes into plants without cutting DNA

A KAUST method places large genetic sequences at precise sites in rice and tobacco without breaking the plant's DNA — a first for plants.

Researchers at KAUST have demonstrated a way to insert large pieces of genetic information into plants at targeted locations without creating breaks in the plant's DNA. The team showed the approach working in both tobacco and rice, using R2 retrotransposons for site-specific gene addition. The study, led by senior author Magdy Mahfouz with Zahir Ali and colleagues, was published in Nature Biotechnology.

Most genome editing relies on cutting DNA, which can introduce errors and makes adding large sequences difficult. Avoiding breaks while placing big genes at chosen sites is what makes this notable — the researchers describe it as the first demonstration of the approach in plants. The method could allow multiple genes to be introduced at once, for traits such as heat, drought, and disease resilience.

For food security, precise multi-gene insertion is a lever on how quickly crops can be adapted to harsher growing conditions. If stacking resilience traits becomes reliable and repeatable, the path from lab trait to field-ready variety shortens, which matters as climate stress pressures yields. The same technique could also turn plants into production platforms for therapeutics and biologics.

The honest caveat is that this remains research-stage work. The named applications are future possibilities, not products, and moving from tobacco and rice demonstrations to deployed crops takes years of testing and regulatory review. What to watch is whether the method transfers to other staple crops and holds precision across generations.

Source: Phys.org