Gene Editing in Soybean: Promise to Products

Legume crops are a vital feedstock for food, feed, fuel, and industrial products. Soybean, as the most cultivated legume crop in the world, has been subject to intense selection and breeding over the past century. The recent emergence of gene editing technology has enabled more efficient and focused studies of soybean gene function, along with the potential to develop new traits and/or novel functions. This chapter provides a brief history of gene editing applications in soybean research, including initial and ongoing applications in gene functional characterization. Furthermore, it discusses new gene editing modalities that may increase the range and flexibility of traits development. Related to these advances in gene knowledge and editing capacity, we discuss the traits that have been targeted for product development in recent years and the traits most likely to be targeted in the future.