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Posts Tagged American Chestnuts

After GMO program hits snag, what’s the future of restoring American chestnuts?

Posted by Nick Gilmore in Virginia's News on February 27, 2024

At the Meadowview research farm, these trees are part of an early generation of breeding between American and Chinese chestnuts. Researchers use selective breeding by selecting trees with strong blight resistance and characteristics similar to American chestnuts to breed later generations. (Credit: Roxy Todd / Radio IQ)

150 years ago, American Chestnut trees provided food for people and animals throughout the eastern United States as well as lumber. Then, a fungus from Asia nearly wiped them out.

Researchers have been working to bring them back, but a genetically modified chestnut program hit a snag last year. As Roxy Todd reports, this has left chestnut fans wondering, what’s next?