Many governments and scientists are now turning to agrigenomics to tackle food sustainability and security. Agrigenomics involves the genome sequencing of plants and their microbiomes to provide a foundation of genetic resources to produce higher yielding, more nutritious, pest and disease-resistant foods faster than traditional breeding.

New legislation is reflecting this drive. In the UK, the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill is expected to become law this year; permitting the use of technologies such as gene editing to produce more nutritious and weather-resistant foods. Similar conversations are happening in the EU, where decisions on gene editing are also expected this year. Yet, historically, embedding genomics into agricultural research has been constrained by limitations in sequencing technology.

We are entering a new phase of agrigenomics. Rapid development in the affordability and speed of sequencing technology is making genomics increasingly accessible. This will make molecularlevel insight into crop complexity available to a wider pool of researchers, in addition to large companies currently paving the way. Moreover, the increased adoption of highly accurate sequencing technology will power exciting new discoveries and drive agrigenomics forwards, unlocking the complex biology of crops to sustainably feed our world.

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