The USDA is considering approving genetically modified chestnut trees for commercial sale and widespread planting in the wild. If authorized, the new strain would be the first genetically engineered (GE) tree to receive approval and the first time any GE plant has been approved for widespread release in the wild. It would also pave the way for engineering other tree species with possible commercial applications to accompany potential environmental threats.
Restoring the Mighty Chestnut
America’s iconic chestnut trees were decimated a century ago by a foreign blight. Two different avenues to reclaim the species have been pursued: genetically engineering trees that are resistant to the blight or using hybrid interbreeding with the Chinese chestnut and existing trees to develop a resistant strain. Opponents of the GE variety under consideration believe the process has been rushed for commercial purposes, presenting possible threats to other tree species, including the wild chestnuts that have endured.
Are the engineered chestnut trees currently under USDA consideration the result of sloppy, short-term research? Several non-profit organizations claim the data submitted to the USDA was taken from the Darling 54 variety, not the originally proposed Darling 58. They allege the Darling 54 deleted an important gene, resulting in weakened resistance, high mortality rates, and abnormal growth. The Darling 54 may be a step backward from the remaining wild chestnut trees, and the pollen from the inferior sample could pollute the genetics of wild trees forever.
Opponents also argue that the research has been rushed – chestnut trees must grow for twenty years before they produce nuts, and the research on GE trees has only endured for ten years. The lack of a proper testing period, combined with the use of the wrong trees for reintroduction, should, in their view, have prevented the USDA from even considering approval. But there are potential profits in the balance.
Trees of the Future?
The initiative to develop genetically engineered chestnut trees was a public restoration effort led by tree enthusiast and construction magnate Herb Darling, who teamed up with researchers at SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). However, the mission shifted from public philanthropy to profit as commercial players recognized potential uses of GE trees to enhance the production and profitability of timber, pulp, and biofuels. SUNY-ESF has allegedly signed a commercial licensing agreement with the for-profit company American Castanea, Inc., for mass cloning using AI-driven propagation methods to sell millions of trees for wild replanting, despite insufficient assurances that they will perform as hoped.
The stakes are high for other GE creations that might, for instance, improve poplar trees for pulp production by reducing levels of lignin, which is costly to remove. In Brazil, pulp company Suzano has been granted permission to commercially grow eucalyptus trees genetically engineered to resist Monsanto’s RoundUp, a controversial glyphosate-based herbicide. Duke Energy wants to grow the pending GE chestnut trees on strip-mined landscapes for lumber and biomass. Many profit-seeking enterprises, including Monsanto itself, have backed the research.
Regardless of whether any of the scientifically hoped-for improvements on trees can actually be achieved, Castanea stands to make huge profits selling the novel seedlings. The Darling chestnut trees, developed by modifying the genome with a wheat gene, are not darlings to many of the tree-loving chestnut enthusiasts who committed decades to resurrecting the trees without extinguishing them in haste driven by commercial conflicts of interest. Voices of opposition cite not just sloppy research and inadequate testing periods but risks to the trees they set out to save. They fear USDA approval of the Darling 54 will serve as a dangerous precedent – a Trojan Horse through which other Frankensteinian trees may cause environmental harm.
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