Field Crop 2025, Vol.8, No.2, 72-81 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/fc 78 deal with the complex genetic background of rapeseed still needs to be carefully considered. Recent studies have pointed out that as long as the method is appropriate, CRISPR technology can completely cultivate higher-quality oil crops (Ali and Zhang, 2023). In fact, it is quite interesting to think about it. The same technology can be applied to different crops in very different ways. The successful case of soybeans has given us a direction, but when it comes to rapeseed, we may have to take some detours. But in any case, this does provide new ideas for improving the quality of vegetable oil. 6 Challenges and Future Directions 6.1 Technical challenges in CRISPR editing of rapeseed When doing CRISPR editing in rapeseed, the most troublesome thing is the efficiency of gRNA. Sometimes the designed gRNA looks good, but the actual effect is not satisfactory. For example, a study found that the overall editing efficiency can reach about 64%, but when it comes to single-site and double-site editing, the success rate is quite different (Liu et al., 2022a). What's more troublesome is that rapeseed is a polyploid plant with too many homologous genes, making it difficult to deliver CRISPR components (Zhang et al., 2019). In the final analysis, if the delivery system is not powerful, no matter how good the editing tool is, it will be useless. Speaking of stability is another hurdle. Whether the edited traits can be stably inherited is really uncertain. Although Huang et al. (2020) observed that the oleic acid content of mutant seeds was indeed increased, it is hard to say how many generations it can be maintained. After all, factors such as mutation type and genomic environment will affect stability. For breeding, if the trait disappears after being passed on, wouldn't the previous efforts be in vain? Therefore, if this problem is not solved, it will be difficult to truly use CRISPR technology in breeding. 6.2 Regulatory and public acceptance concerns The regulatory policies of various countries on gene-edited crops vary widely, which has added a lot of obstacles to the commercial promotion of CRISPR rapeseed. Some places require a lot of safety assessments before it can be put on the market, and it takes several years just to go through the procedures (Ali and Zhang, 2023). The most troublesome thing is that the standards of each country are not unified. If it is approved in one country today, it may need to be re-approved in the neighboring country tomorrow. When it comes to consumer acceptance, the situation is also quite complicated. Although CRISPR technology can bring real benefits, when it comes to "gene editing", many people's first reaction is still to think of genetic modification, and they are very nervous (Jiang et al., 2017). In fact, there is a big difference between the two, but ordinary consumers can't tell the difference. So the key is to make the words clear, explain the scientific principles clearly, and slowly build trust. Otherwise, no matter how good the technology is, it will be useless if the people don't buy it. Interestingly, the acceptance level varies greatly in different regions. Some countries are relatively open, while others are particularly cautious. This difference sometimes has little to do with science itself, but is more related to cultural traditions and eating habits. Therefore, to promote CRISPR rapeseed oil, it is not enough to rely on technological advantages alone, but we must also learn to "adapt to local customs." 6.3 Future prospects in CRISPR-based fatty acid biosynthesis enhancement When it comes to improving the fatty acid composition of rapeseed, CRISPR technology does show a lot of possibilities. Recently, a study successfully increased the oleic acid content by knocking out the BnFAD2 and BnFAE1 genes (Shi et al., 2022). However, in actual operation, the design of gRNA is critical, which must be both efficient and accurate to ensure that only the target gene is modified. Now the more cutting-edge approach is to combine CRISPR with other omics technologies. For example, through metabolomics analysis, the specific pathway of fatty acid synthesis can be more clearly understood (Karunarathna et al., 2020). This can not only improve the accuracy of editing, but also discover new regulatory targets. Of course, this multi-omics method is not cheap and requires high laboratory conditions. Although the technology has
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ4ODYzNA==