PEANUT BREEDING HAS CONTRIBUTED GREATLY TO PRODUCTION, QUALITY AND NUTRITIONAL IMPROVEMENT THROUGH DYNAMIC AND CONTINUAL VARIETAL ENHANCEMENT, WHICH POSITIVELY IMPACTS THE PEANUT INDUSTRY. HOWEVER, CONVENTIONAL BREEDING IS A TIME-CONSUMING APPROACH, NORMALLY TAKING 10 - 12 YEARS TO PRODUCE NEW VARIETIES. IN ADDITION, TRADITIONAL BREEDING IS NOW CONSTRAINED BY A DECLINE IN EXISTING GENETIC VARIATION. GENE EDITING IS A METHOD USED TO MAKE ANY TARGETED GENETIC CHANGE TO A CHROMOSOME THAT PRODUCES A VIABLE ORGANISM. FOR THIS PROPOSAL WE WILL ASSESS THE SUITABILITY OF GENE-EDITING VIA CRISPR-BASED TRANSCRIPTION REGULATION AND CYTIDINE DEAMINASE-BASED C TO T MODIFICATION IN PEANUT. THE METHODOLOGY WE WILL USE IN THIS PROJECT IS SIMILAR WITH ELECTRICAL SWATCH TO BE ON OR OFF ON GENE EXPRESSION, RATHER THAN DIRECTLY KNOCKOUT THE GENES LIKE CUTOFF ELECTRICAL WIRE. THE RELIABLE PROTOCOLS WOULD BE USED ON OTHER GENES OF INTEREST.