WASHINGTON POST • December 25, 2023
The American Chestnut Foundation has poured years of work into a line of chestnuts genetically engineered to endure a deadly disease infecting them, an effort meant to be one of the best hopes for its survival. Then in October came a blow to that vision. Ek Han Tan, a geneticist at the University of Maine, found a gene inserted into the wrong spot, driving the American Chestnut Foundation to pull its support this month for the Darling line. It has sent a rift through the passionate community and left still-unanswered questions about the fate of a long-standing, high-tech effort. The disagreement threatens to derail plans for restoring the trees. But Andrew Newhouse, director of chestnut restoration at SUNY ESF, said his team is moving forward with seeking federal approval to begin distributing seeds to the public without the 5,000-member foundation as its longtime partner and financial backer.