Cotton in Hot Water: How Gene Editing is Protecting Your T-Shirts from Climate Chaos!

By Faizan Ali

The spring season is here, and summer is just around the corner. Imagine that you are rocking down Broadway in your stylish and comfy T-shirt, but what if I told you that the very summer you are enjoying is a big threat to these nice-looking shirts? Global warming is not just leading to higher temperatures or rising sea levels; it's also messing with the global cotton crop, ultimately jeopardizing its supplies and putting the entire textile and fashion industry at risk. Currently, China, India, the U.S., and Brazil account for almost 70% of global cotton production (Meyer et al., 2022). The crop is sensitive to heat, and if the temperature is too high, it "freaks out" and fails to produce enough viable flowers and seeds, leading to a crash in production outputs. In the U.S. alone, the crop has an economic value of more than five billion dollars, with an overall impact of nearly 120 billion USD annually in terms of value-added products and services. So, this is not just about T-shirts anymore; it’s about the livelihood of thousands of farmers and an industry worth billions.

Cotton Commodity Overview—Courtesy of the World Trade Organization (WTO)

The Problem

Under normal conditions, cotton develops male and female flower parts, with pollination leading to seed development and cotton production. However, global warming is causing world temperatures to fluctuate more, leading to a higher number of extreme heat events. These severe conditions are making cotton plants a bit nervous too, as these high temperatures tend to make the plants sterile, which means you don’t get any more seeds or cotton lint, and you can say goodbye to your good-looking summer attire. This susceptibility to heat arises due to a gene called “GhCKI,” short for Gossypium hirsutum CASEIN KINASE1, which goes into overdrive in the heat and is involved in reproduction and heat response mechanisms. Now, under normal temperatures, this gene tends to be nice and cool, causing no problem for the plant at all, but whenever things get heated up, this gene gets really fired up! It decreases the plant’s fertility, making it unviable for seed and cotton production.

The Tool

Researchers today are rushing around the clock to find newer and more efficient tools to ensure quick and reliable fixes for plants. One such technology is the CRISPR-based genome editing approach, but what is genome editing? Think of a simple Word document where you continuously type tons of information, but every now and then you experience some error or misspelling, which you can easily fix by placing the cursor on the site, selecting the text, and making an edit in the document. This way, the document and its corresponding information become more refined and accessible, increasing the overall readability. In a similar manner, every cellular life form has tons of information stored in it as nucleotide sequences or DNA, but every now and then the information either becomes faulty or results in undesirable traits. The CRISPR gene editing tool acts as a cursor by tracking the concerning genetic information and editing it, leading to certain enhancements in living beings. CRISPR was originally discovered as a bacterial immunity system and later reengineered into a state-of-the-art genome editing tool (Ishino et al., 1987; Barrangou et al., 2007; Jinek et al., 2012).

The Solution

The research team from Huazhong Agricultural University, China, decided to take on this challenge and rescue the cotton plant from the extreme heat. They first attempted to alter the sequence of GhCKI using the CRISPR tool, but it did not yield a satisfactory response; then they targeted the promoter region of this gene. What is the promoter region? Think of a music system and its volume knob: the more you turn it up, the higher the overall volume, and vice versa. The promoter region is like the volume knob of the gene, determining how much a gene will express; if that element is missing, the gene will not function. These researchers focused on the promoter region of this gene and successfully developed two types of cotton plants (GhCKI-pro5 and GhCKI-pro6) that exhibit moderate expression of the GhCKI gene, with regular flower development, viable seeds, and nearly normal cotton production (Li et al., 2025).

Why is this important?

Developing heat-tolerant cotton plants is of great importance; it’s not just about the textile and fashion industry but also the development of various eco-friendly products. In the face of declining cotton yields, the usage of synthetic fibers can rise, which could lead to increased microplastic toxicity in our ecosystem. Thus, the development of heat-tolerant cotton varieties can ensure stable cotton yield outputs and sufficient cotton supplies for the globe, leading to both environmental and economic sustainability in the industry.

Conclusion

In a rapidly changing world where climate change is heating things up, innovative approaches like gene editing are not just saving crop plants; they are ensuring food security, supporting sustainable economic development, and making sure you can buy new, comfy T-shirts this summer. This research shows that with the magic of CRISPR, we can address the ever-growing challenges faced by humanity and ensure a sustainable future for all.

References

Barrangou, R., Fremaux, C., Deveau, H., Richards, M., Boyaval, P., Moineau, S., & Horvath, P. (2007). CRISPR provides acquired resistance against viruses in prokaryotes. Science, 315(5819), 1709–1712. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1138140

Ishino, Y., Shinagawa, H., Makino, K., Amemura, M., & Nakata, A. (1987). Nucleotide sequence of the iap gene, responsible for alkaline phosphatase isozyme conversion in Escherichia coli, and identification of the gene product. Journal of Bacteriology, 169(12), 5429–5433. https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.169.12.5429-5433.1987

Jinek, M., Chylinski, K., Fonfara, I., Hauer, M., Doudna, J. A., & Charpentier, E. (2012). A programmable dual-RNA–guided DNA endonuclease in adaptive bacterial immunity. Science, 337(6096), 816–821. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1225829

Li, Y., Fu, Y., Li, Y., Zhang, R., Yang, J., Ma, H., & Zhang, X. (2025). Reversing anther thermotolerance by manipulating the cis-elements in the promoter of a high-temperature upregulated gene Casein Kinase I in upland cotton. Science China Life Sciences, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-024-2755-9

Meyer, L., Dew, T., & Jarrell, P. (2022). Cotton and wool outlook: September 2022 (CWS-22i). Amber Waves: The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America. https://www.ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/outlooks/104719/CWS-22i.pdf?v=61103

Faizan Ali is a PhD student in Agricultural Sciences at Tennessee State University, specializing in precision agriculture, genomics, and plant-microbe interactions. His research focuses on climate-resilient crop systems and mitigating cucurbit diseases. Originally from Pakistan, Faizan enjoys translating complex science into accessible content. Outside of research, he is passionate about tech innovation, exploring digital tools, traveling, and spending time in nature.