USDA Completes Regulatory Review of Genetically Engineered Chestnut Tree

Researchers at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science & Forestry (ESF) have created Darling-54. This experimental transgenic American chestnut is now one step closer to public release after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) completed its regulatory review in June. The USDA review states that the tree is “unlikely to pose a plant pest risk.”

Darling-54 is a genetically engineered (GE) American chestnut tree designed to withstand a fungal blight that all but wiped out American chestnut trees more than a century ago. If approved, Darling-54 would be the first GE tree made for large-scale reforestation and could save the American chestnut from the brink of extinction.

Aside from the USDA, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency are now reviewing Darling-54. All three federal agencies must declare Darling-54 safe for people and the environment before the transgenic trees can be planted outside of research plots, a process that may take several years.

For more details, read the news article on Syracuse.com.