Methods for Transgenerational Genome Editing in Plants

The USPTO published a patent application disclosing methods and means for transgenerational genome editing in plants. The invention involves genome editing nucleic acid constructs encoding RNA-guided nucleases expressed under selected constitutive promoters, combined with one or more guide RNAs. CPC classifications include C12N 15/8201, A01H 1/021, C12N 9/226, C12N 15/111, and C12N 2310/20.

For agricultural biotechnology companies and plant science researchers, this published application represents prior art that may affect freedom-to-operate analyses. Competitors developing similar genome editing technologies in plants should review the disclosed methods and assess potential licensing needs or design-around strategies. The published claims, once granted, would provide exclusive rights to transgenerational editing methods in plants using the disclosed construct configurations.