GENOMIC INFORMATION IS RAPIDLY BEING GENERATED NOT ONLY FOR MAJOR CROPS SUCH AS MAIZE, WHEAT AND RICE, BUT ALSO FOR OTHER ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT CROPS INCLUDING COMMON BEAN, CHILI PEPPER, PAPAYA, GRAPEVINE, ETC. THE INCREASING AMOUNT OF INFORMATION ABOUT PLANT GENOMES HAS ALLOWED THE USE OF DIFFERENT STRATEGIES, SUCH AS GENOME WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES, COMPARATIVE GENOMICS AND USE OF MUTANT AND MAPPING POPULATIONS, TO IDENTIFY GENES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO DIFFERENT TRAITS IMPORTANT FOR PLANT PRODUCTIVITY. TO VALIDATE CANDIDATE GENES IN MOST CASES IT IS NECESSARY TO PRODUCE KNOCKOUT OR ALTERED MUTANTS OF THE GENE OF INTEREST. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CRISP/CAS9 TECHNOLOGY THAT ALLOWS TO EDIT GENETIC INFORMATION TO PRODUCE KNOCKOUT, POINT MUTATIONS, CHANGES IN PROMOTER STRENGTH (PROMOTER BASHING), DNA INSERTIONS, AND GENE REPLACEMENTS, HAS CHANGED THE WAY WE DO BIOLOGY. SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION OF GENE EDITING HAS BEEN REPORTED FOR MANY CROP PLANTS INCLUDING MAIZE, RICE, SOYBEAN, COTTON, AMONG SEVERAL OTHERS, BUT THE TISSUE CULTURE STEP TO PRODUCE GENE EDITED PLANTS IS TIME CONSUMING AND LIMITED TO THE FEW LABORATORIES THAT HAVE THE EXPERTISE IN CELL CULTURE TO REGENERATE THESE CROP PLANTS. TO OVERCOME THE TISSUE CULTURE HURDLE TO PRODUCE GENE EDITED PLANTS, WE PROPOSE TO DESIGN AND DEVELOP A TISSUE-CULTURE INDEPENDENT GENE EDITING SYSTEM THAT SHOULD BE GENERALLY APPLICABLE TO MOST BROAD LEAVE CROPS, SUCH AS COTTON, SOYBEAN, COMMON BEANS, SUNFLOWERS, ETC., AND SIMPLE ENOUGH THAT COULD BE CARRIED OUT IN A COMMON GREENHOUSE BY PEOPLE WITH BASIC TRAINING IN HORTICULTURE OR OTHER PLANT SCIENCE AREAS. THE RATIONAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO USE NATURAL LONG-DISTANCE RNA MOBILITY TO SUPPLY CELLS IN THE SHOOT APICAL MERISTEM WITH THE RNAS REQUIRED FOR GENE EDITING WITHOUT THE NEED OF THE TARGET CELLS TO BE DIRECTLY SUBJECTED TO THE PROCESS OF DNA, RNA, PROTEIN DELIVERY, OR THE REGENERATION PROCESS. IF WE TRANSFECT LEAF OR COTYLEDON CELLS WITH THE GENES REQUIRED TO PRODUCE THE EDITING MACHINERY AND ONLY THE RNAS MOVE INTO MERISTEMATIC CELLS, WE WILL PREVENT UNDESIRABLE DNA INSERTIONS, GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS IN THE GENOME OF THE TARGET CELLS THAT ARE OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE AGROBACTERIUM-MEDIATED TRANSFORMATION PROCESSES OR ABNORMAL DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESSES SUCH AS DE NOVO MERISTEM FORMATION FROM DIFFERENTIATED CELLS. GENE-EDITED CELLS WILL STILL BE PART OF THE NORMAL APICAL MERISTEM, WHICH LATER WILL RISE TO GAMETES THAT WILL PRODUCE GENE EDITED SEED UNDER NORMAL GREENHOUSE CONDITIONS.