13Genome Engineering and Essential Mineral Enrichment of Crops
Erum Shoeb, Uzma Badar, Srividhya Venkataraman, Ghyda Murad Hashim, and Kathleen Hefferon
Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
13.1 Introduction
Plants provide macro and micronutrients such as proteins, minerals and vitamins as essential components of the human diet. These must be readily bioavailable and of sufficient quantity within the edible parts of crops. At present, more than 850 million of our global population are chronically undernourished (Global 2018). During the Green Revolution in the 1960s, the major focus was on enhancing crop yield to improve food security. This is no longer a concern for today's world populace; instead, the quality/nutritional value of food consumed has become the greatest priority in food programs worldwide. Nutritional insufficiency in food grains is the major cause of malnutrition. This is compounded by other factors such as population increase, unpredictable changes in climate, diminishing arable land, elevated food prices and other environmental parameters. The ...
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