AI-designed nuclease performs robust knock out, base editing and prime editing in plants

Abstract Genome-editing applications in biological organisms rely on a limited set of naturally occurring enzymes. Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming protein design. Here, building on the AI-designed nuclease OpenCRISPR-1, we establish the plant-optimized AI-designed editors (PAiD) as a versatile genome-editing platform in plants. PAiD supports NHEJ-mediated indel generation, adenine and cytosine base editing, and prime editing, with robust performance across multiple loci comparable to SpCas9. These results highlight the translational potential of AI-designed nucleases for plant genome engineering.