American Chestnut trees in Wisconsin, photo by Joseph O'Brien, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

Biotechnology is bringing new hope to a long-running effort to revive the American chestnut tree, an iconic species that once dominated the eastern woodlands but was nearly wiped out by blight. Researchers in New York are growing transgenic chestnut specimens producing an enzyme that helps the tree resist fungal infections. The trees have survived experimental infections with chestnut blight, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“I didn’t think they would ever do it,” Kim Steiner, professor of forest biology at Penn State, told the Journal. Now, he said, “I’m sure it’s going to happen.”

The resistant trees were developed at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, which is also involved in a project using conventional breeding to cross the American tree with a blight-resistant Chinese variety.

The transgenic project uses a gene found in wheat and other grass species that can detoxify oxalate, a chemical produced by the blight, by breaking it down into carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide. The same gene is being tested for its pathogen resistance in crops.

The transgenic project began in 1990, alongside the “backcross” program dating from the 1980’s. The blight erupted in 1904 and killed billions of chestnut trees by 1950. While chestnut trees can still be found in the eastern woods and mountains, most succumb to the blight.

If the chestnut can be saved, scientists say, there could be hope for other endangered trees, including the elm, nearly wiped out by Dutch elm disease, and the eastern hemlock, which is besieged by a sap-sucking insect.

“We have to be proactive,” Steven Handel, a professor of plant ecology at Rutgers, told the Journal. “The statement that nature takes care of itself — if only it was true.” Read more.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, a Kenyan farmer calls on European leaders to embrace biotechnology to help Africa and the rest of the world boost food production.

Gilbert Arap Bor, who grows maize and vegetables and raises cows in Kenya, says Africa’s challenges with producing enough food could be addressed by giving farmers access “to one of the world’s most important hunger-fighting tools.”  Read more.

WSJ op-ed: Nestle’s Chairman says biotech is essential for global food security

In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, chairman of Nestlé Peter Brabeck-Letmathe says Europe’s refusal to use biotechnology “has halted the multi-decade rise in agricultural productivity that has allowed us, so far, to feed more mouths than many people believed was possible.” Read more.  

Scientists point out EPA proposed regulatory burdens are obstacle to innovation

The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB Journal) published an article by Dr. Nina Fedoroff and Dr. Bruce Chassy which says the EPA’s proposal to expand regulatory burdens would create obstacles to scientific innovation.

“A further increase in the regulatory burden would impose steep barriers to scientific innovation and product development across all sectors of our economy and would not only fail to enhance safety, but would be likely to prolong reliance on less safe and obsolete practices.” Read more.

Prominent food industry expert condemns attacks on GM papayas in Hawaii

Perishable Pundit, an online publication by the prominent food industry author and news commentator Jim Prevor, calls the devastation caused by attacks on papayas in Hawaii “unacceptable.” His article features an interview with Delan Perry from the Hawaii Papaya Association, who points out the need for GM papaya varieties to fight plant disease.  Read more.

TIME: biotech seeds improve productivity of US farming

TIME discusses the contributions of US agriculture to fueling economic growth, noting that biotech seeds help the environment and improve crop yields.  

The article points out, “a number of innovations have made U.S. farmers significantly more productive than they were just two decades ago. Bioengineered seeds mean they can use smaller amounts of pesticides and water.” Read more.

Wall Street Journal: Chinese companies investing in biotech

According to the Wall Street Journal, a large Chinese seed producer plans to expand its development of agricultural biotechnology to help feed the world’s most populous nation. This is “an important sign of China’s growing appetite for U.S. crops and biotechnology.” Read more.

Indian farmer says biotech crops contribute to agricultural productivity

In a Wall Street Journal online forum to debate the impact of GM crops in India, an Indian farmer said GM crops have “undoubtedly” improved agricultural productivity. Vanchinathan Ravichandran grows biotech cotton, which he says occupies 90% of cotton cultivation since the technology was approved in 2002. He urges policy makers to remove bans on other biotech crops: “We need crops with improved traits such as drought tolerance, submergence tolerance, salinity resistance and so on.” He adds, “When Genetically Modified crops can provide answers to these issues, why deprive us of the opportunity to benefit from science and technology?” Read more.

GM crops could help Zimbabwe achieve food security

News Day, a Zimbabwe publication, said the country should be more open to GM technology to help meet the challenge of food security. The article points out Zimbabwean farmers need the technology to produce more crops on less land. “The Western world is flourishing because of GM food. But then why is GM technology shunned in Zimbabwe?” Read more.

Dr. Pamela Ronald discusses benefits of GM crops at New Zealand lecture

Dr. Pamela Ronald, Professor of Plant Pathology at UC-Davis and author of Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food, posted a blog on the benefits of GM crops and the negative impact of regulatory hurdles in New Zealand. Dr. Ronald discussed her lecture at the Royal Society in Wellington, New Zealand, where she made the point that GM crops have “enhanced [the] goals of sustainable agriculture.” Read more.