Dear colleagues,

2021 marks the 27^th year of the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) plants. The development and approval of GM crop plants have been significantly increased, and nearly 500 plants have been released for commercial cultivation across the globe. This increasing number of approvals indicates that either the trust by farmers and the public has been increased or the regulatory and risk assessment processes have been eased. This phenomenon is also associated with developments in genetic modification techniques such as genome-editing with site-directed nucleases, e.g., CRISPR, transcription-activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN), zinc-finger nucleases (ZNFs), RNA directed DNA methylation, Cisgenesis and intragenesis, use of GM-rootstocks, RNA-editing, and gene transfer via gene gun or agro-infiltration. Currently, there is debate as to whether the regulatory process of GM plant approval should be simplified. On the contrary, whether the regulatory processes have been modified in parallel to recent developments has been questioned. In order to arrive at a conclusion or a balance between risk assessment and approval and technological advancements in genetic modification, key steps must be established. For example, we must determine whether GM plant regulation should be globalized or not?

For this Special Issue, we invite researchers to submit articles, reviews, opinions, and short communications that aim to answer these or related questions. Studies that involve the development, risk assessment, and regulation of GM plants are of interest Additionally, studies that use or improve genetic modification and genome-editing techniques are welcome.

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• genetically modified plants
• genome-editing
• cisgenesis
• intragenesis
• GM regulation
• GM risk assessment
• GM plant approval