Engineering Resilient Crops: A Review on Integrating Evolutionary and Synthetic Biology Approaches

Plants have long adapted to the earth’s changing environmental patterns. Yet, 1 with the current rise of abiotic stresses, such as salinity, temperatures, drought, and nutrient 2 depletion occurring at unpredictable rates threaten global agriculture. If this pattern keeps 3 continuing, then long-evolved regulatory mechanisms can become inadequate to keep 4 pace with environmental disturbances. Consequently, to work through these challenges, 5 human-targeted genetic interventions are requisite. In this review, the recent advancements 6 in plant resilience research, from evolutionary mechanisms (polyploidy, epigenetics, gene 7 duplication, etc.) to modern synthetic technologies (CRISPR-Cas, transgene technology, 8 nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence (AI)), are discussed to redefine the boundaries of 9 plant stress tolerance. By integrating these two domain principles, we can understand how 10 the evolutionary mechanisms can help us in designing precision tools to retain or integrate 11 the lost valuable genetic characteristics. Despite these advancements, major hurdles such 12 as limited field trials, specific isoform functional data, and plants’ ability to adopt these 13 resilient traits still remain. With human interventions and technological strategies, we can 14 improve the plant’s resilience. Here we are not replacing natural evolutionary adaptation, 15 but rather we are building a path for better plant adaptation in these environmental crisis 16 situations and laying the road to sustainable food systems.17