William Powell video interview on the return of the American chestnut tree

When European settlers came to America, they found vast forests in the Appalachian mountains, dominated by the American chestnut. But today, the chestnut is nearly gone – almost completely wiped out by a blight that was accidentally imported on a Chinese chestnut tree. Today there is a concerted effort to bring it back – and to use modern genetics to do it. Two fascinating projects have been underway for years, employing breeding and genetic engineering.

Last fall, I attended a presentation by Dr. William Powell at SUNY-ESF in Syracuse, NY. I also got a tour of his group’s labs, greenhouse, and field plots, followed by an interview with Dr. Charles Maynard. Then, I swung down to Asheville, NC, and interviewed Bryan Burhans, the then-president of the American Chestnut Foundation. On my way back to Madison, I stopped at the ACF’s breeding station in Meadowview, Virginia, for a tour and an interview with Dr. Fred Hebard who runs the breeding project for ACF. Each interview had some interesting discussions, which I hope you will find interesting.

Here is the first video in a series from this trip: a presentation given by William Powell. It is an updated and extended version of his TEDx talk, with new data that now appears in a peer-reviewed publication published last month.

Read full, original blog: The Return of a King – The American Chestnut

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