UMD Research Aims To Develop A Genome Editing Pipeline In Carrots, Optimize Crop Production

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- With two new funding sources, Yiping Qi, associate professor in the Department of Plant Science & Landscape Architecture (PSLA) at the University of Maryland (UMD), continues his work to expand the reach and utility of CRISPR gene editing technologies. Funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), Qi and his team will be testing new delivery technologies for CRISPR-Cas12a to develop a pipeline for genome editing in carrots. This could lead to the production of more nutritious and hypoallergenic carrot varieties that can be quickly introduced into the marketplace. Additionally, Qi will continue his search for novel CRISPR-Cas12a variants with funding from the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII), with the ultimate goal of finding more CRISPR tools that are optimized for crop production.