Abstract

Aquaculture has become one of the fastest-growing food production sectors worldwide. However, the rapid growth of this sector is threatened by the sustainability of aquaculture. Infectious diseases occur, which negatively impact production, product quality, and the economic viability of the sector. The use of traditional approaches in breeding and vaccines has not produced anything durable in the way of disease resistance for the numerous species of aquaculture products. The use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology for genome editing and modification has changed the game in aquaculture. This is the first technology that allows for the precise, efficient, and heritable changes to be made to genes that influence the immune system and resistance to pathogens. This review focuses on the use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology in the aquaculture industry, particularly on fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. It describes the process of gene selection and editing, the delivery of the gene editing tools, and how to prevent unwanted changes that CRISPR tools might cause (Luo et al., 2022). The review also addresses the possible synergy of CRISPR with the omics technologies for next-generation commercial aquaculture. It is suggested that aquaculture sectors with genetically modified CRISPR-Cas9 technology would remove food insecurity and promote sustainable aquaculture on a global level.

Keywords: CRISPR-Cas9, Genome editing, Aquaculture, Disease resistance, Sustainable aquaculture, Fish immunogenomics