Beyond Herbicides: Emerging Biotechnology Solutions for Environmentally Safe Weed Management

Invasive weeds continue to pose a major threat to global agriculture, causing substantial yield losses, intensifying production costs, and destabilizing ecosystems. The effectiveness of conventional chemical herbicides is increasingly constrained by the rapid evolution of herbicide-resistant weed biotypes and mounting environmental and regulatory pressures. These limitations have accelerated the pursuit of next-generation, sustainable weed management strategies. Among the most promising innovations, RNA interference (RNAi)–based herbicides and advanced genetic engineering technologies offer highly targeted, environmentally compatible alternatives to synthetic chemical herbicides. RNAi provides a precise mode of action by silencing essential weed genes through sequence-specific degradation of target mRNAs. The non-genomic RNAi approach, which utilizes externally applied double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), has emerged as a safe, flexible, and regulation-friendly strategy. When delivered through foliar sprays, soil applications, seed coatings, or nanoformulations, exogenous dsRNA activates endogenous RNAi pathways without introducing transgenes—enhancing biosafety, reducing ecological risk, and enabling species-specific control. Complementary genetic engineering technologies—including CRISPR-based gene drives that modulate weed population dynamics and phosphite metabolism engineering that provides nutrient-use exclusivity to engineered crops—further broaden the biotechnological toolbox for sustainable weed management. Collectively, these approaches represent a paradigm shift toward precision-driven, eco-friendly weed control. This review synthesizes recent advances in RNAi-mediated and genetically engineered weed suppression, evaluates ecological and regulatory implications, and identifies research priorities for integrating biotechnology-based solutions into modern sustainable agriculture.