Chloroplast genome engineering: Recent advances, pathways towards commercialization and future directions.

Chloroplast genome engineering enables thousands of transgene copies per plant cell for high recombinant protein and enzyme production, with maternal inheritance supporting pollen gene containment.

• Why it matters: The field addresses the need for higher expression and biosafety than typical nuclear GMO approaches, enabling new GM crop applications from biopharmaceuticals to industrial enzymes.
• What they did: This review surveys advances including the first FDA approval of plant-cell biopharmaceuticals for human clinical trial evaluation, plus marker-free edible plants, improved DNA delivery, vector-free assembly, and expression optimization.
• The result: It highlights clinical-stage topical and oral drug delivery using plant cells and outlines tools and future products expected within 3–5 years, alongside commercialization opportunities and challenges.

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