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