Current global agricultural production must feed over 7 billion people. However, productivity varies greatly across the globe and is under threat from both increased competitions for land and climate change and associated environmental deterioration. Moreover, the increase in human population size and dietary changes are putting an ever greater burden on agriculture. The majority of this burden is met by the cultivation of a very small number of species, largely in locations that differ from their origin of domestication. Recent technological advances have raised the possibility of de novo domestication of wild plants as a viable solution for designing ideal crops while maintaining food security and a more sustainable low-input agriculture. Here we discuss how the discovery of multiple key domestication genes alongside the development of technologies for accurate manipulation of several target genes simultaneously renders de novo domestication a route toward crops for the future.

当前的全球农业生产必须养活超过70亿人口。但是，全球各地的生产率差异很大，并且受到土地和气候变化竞争加剧以及相关环境恶化的威胁。此外，人口规模的增加和饮食结构的改变给农业带来了越来越大的负担。这种负担的大部分是通过在极少数不同于其驯养起源的地方种植很少种类的物种来解决的。最近的技术进步提高了从头开始的可能性将野生植物驯化作为设计理想作物的可行解决方案，同时保持粮食安全和更可持续的低投入农业。在这里，我们讨论了如何发现多个关键的驯化基因，以及如何精确操纵几个目标基因的技术的发展，如何同时使从头驯化成为通往未来农作物的途径。