The field of plant pathology has adopted targeted genome editing technology as one of its most crucial and effective genetic tools. Due to its simplicity, effectiveness, versatility, CRISPR together with CRISPR-associated proteins found in an adaptive immune system of prokaryotes have recently attracted the interest of the scientific world. Plant disease resistance must be genetically improved for sustainable agriculture. Plant biology and biotechnology have been transformed by genome editing, which makes it possible to perform precise and targeted genome modifications. Editing offers a fresh approach by genetically enhancing plant disease resistance and quickening resistance through breeding. It is simpler to plan and implement, has a greater success rate, is more adaptable and less expensive than other genome editing methods. Importantly CRISPR/Cas9 has recently surpassed plant science as well as plant disease. After years of research, scientists are currently modifying and rewriting genomes to create crop plants which are immune to particular pests and diseases. The main topics of this review are current developments in plant protection using CRISPR/Cas9 technology in model plants and commodities in response to viral, fungal, and bacterial infections, as well as potential applications and difficulties of numerous promising CRISPR/Cas9-adapted approaches.

Animals as a source of organs and tissues for xenotransplantation could become a backup solution for the growing shortage of human donors. The presence of human xenoreactive anti- bodies directed against Galα1,3Gal antigens on the cell surface of a pig donor triggers the activa- tion of the complement leading to a hyperacute reaction. The development of genetic engineer- ing techniques has enabled the modification of genomes by knocking in and/or knocking out genes. In this paper, we report the generation of modified pigs with ZFN mediated disruption of the GGTA1 gene encoding the enzyme responsible for synthesis of Galα1,3Gal antigens. ZFN plasmids designed to target the exon 9 region of the pig GGTA1 gene encoding the catalytic domain were injected into the pronuclei of fertilized egg cells. Among 107 piglets of the F0 gene- ration analyzed, one female with 9-nt deletion in exon 9 of the GGTA1 gene was found. 13 of 33 piglets of the F1 generation represented the +/- GGTA1 genotype and 2 of 13 F2 piglets repre- sented the -/- GGTA1 genotype. No changes in the animals’ behavior, phenotype or karyotype were observed. Analysis confirmed heredity of the trait in all animals. A complex functional analysis of the modified animals, including flow cytometry, human serum cytotoxicity test and immunohistochemical detection, was performed to estimate the phenotype effect of genetic modification and this indicated an efficient GGTA1 knock-out in modified pigs.

Article published in Science, 2012 by Jennifer A. Doudna, Emmanuelle Charpentier and their team presented a novel tool named as CRISPR/Cas9. The original CRISPR/Cas9 tool and the whole system developed from it since then allow making precise changes in the nucleotide sequence in the defined locus of the genome. The article presents the already known as well the potential future applications of the system for improvement of cultivated plants. The separate section is devoted to present the background of the Court of Justice decision C-528/16. Discussed are the far reaching negative consequences of this, based not on the merit decision, for the future of European green biotechnology.