[HN Gopher] The problem with the Darling 58 genetically modified...
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       The problem with the Darling 58 genetically modified chestnut tree
        
       Author : jseliger
       Score  : 30 points
       Date   : 2024-05-27 15:50 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (nymag.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (nymag.com)
        
       | jseliger wrote:
       | https://archive.ph/VRCJf
        
       | dang wrote:
       | Related:
       | 
       |  _Setback in the "American Chestnut Project"_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39044498 - Jan 2024 (2
       | comments)
       | 
       |  _Genetic engineering was meant to save chestnut trees. Then
       | there was a mistake._ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38758522 - Dec 2023 (11
       | comments)
       | 
       |  _America lost the chestnut, its "perfect tree"_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38754581 - Dec 2023 (176
       | comments)
       | 
       |  _TACF is no longer supporting development of D58 American
       | chestnut trees_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38573765 -
       | Dec 2023 (58 comments)
       | 
       |  _The American chestnut tree is coming back. Who is it for?_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37576771 - Sept 2023 (4
       | comments)
       | 
       |  _Technology Puts American Chestnut Trees on the Comeback Trail_
       | - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34181235 - Dec 2022 (1
       | comment)
       | 
       |  _Biotech chestnut tree poised to restore lost ecosystems and
       | biodiversity_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34143557 -
       | Dec 2022 (1 comment)
       | 
       |  _Gene editing could revive a nearly lost tree. Not everyone is
       | on board_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32665955 - Aug
       | 2022 (1 comment)
       | 
       |  _American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for
       | conservationists_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32621570
       | - Aug 2022 (155 comments)
       | 
       |  _American chestnut_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30333498 - Feb 2022 (73
       | comments)
       | 
       |  _The demise and potential revival of the American chestnut_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26441593 - March 2021 (86
       | comments)
       | 
       |  _Blight wiped out the American chestnut. Scientists are close to
       | bringing it back_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21846891
       | - Dec 2019 (2 comments)
       | 
       |  _American chestnut poised for return to America 's forests_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13855137 - March 2017 (1
       | comment)
       | 
       |  _American chestnut trees are "technically extinct"_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13478910 - Jan 2017 (120
       | comments)
        
       | rulalala wrote:
       | IMHO this is a romantic effort, no one can plant a tree species
       | at such a scale.
        
         | buescher wrote:
         | A country of two million people managed to plant six million
         | trees in one day in 2008
         | 
         | https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE4AI49U/
        
           | kwhitefoot wrote:
           | How many of them survived more than a year?
        
             | woleium wrote:
             | i imagine most of them, Macedonia is not such a dangerous
             | place to live. /s
        
             | bagels wrote:
             | Many of them. Do you have information about it that the
             | rest of us don't?
             | 
             | "Fifty million trees planted- the government said in 2014-
             | with a success rate of 61% compared to the average European
             | planting success rate of 35%."
        
         | CapitalistCartr wrote:
         | We routinely plant over a billion trees each year in the USA.
         | Tree planting is a huge industry. We have tractor attachments
         | that can mass plant some species.
        
         | whartung wrote:
         | Sometimes, I just have some view of a city, or whatever, look
         | out, quietly scan the horizon and just muse "every tree I see
         | was planted by someone". Someone said "here, there will be a
         | tree" and it was so.
         | 
         | Small ones, big ones. They're just everywhere.
         | 
         | "See that park over there? Someone put every one of those trees
         | in the ground."
         | 
         | Then, as a corollary, one day, a parking lot has several dozen
         | trees. Next day, they're all gone. Week later, a bunch of new
         | ones are back. Guess the old ones were just getting too big.
         | 
         | Friend recently had to take down a 100 year old tree. Was just
         | getting potentially unsafe.
         | 
         | No doubt they'll stick another one in there, and leave it.
         | It'll be there when they pass.
        
       | squiffsquiff wrote:
       | Long article. ChatGPT summary:
       | 
       | The article "The Problem With Darling 58" by Kate Morgan,
       | published in New York Magazine, discusses the controversy
       | surrounding the efforts to save the American chestnut tree, a
       | once-dominant species in Eastern U.S. forests that was devastated
       | by a fungal blight in the early 20th century.
       | 
       | The American Chestnut Foundation and scientists have been working
       | on different methods to restore the species. One method involved
       | breeding programs, while another, led by geneticists at the State
       | University of New York College of Environmental Science and
       | Forestry (SUNY-ESF), focused on creating a genetically modified
       | tree, known as Darling 58, to resist the blight. However, a
       | recent discovery revealed that many trees believed to be Darling
       | 58 were actually an earlier iteration, Darling 54, which has
       | shown less resistance to the blight.
       | 
       | This mix-up has led to significant tension within the
       | conservation community, accusations of a cover-up, and concerns
       | about the future of the restoration efforts. The controversy has
       | also been compounded by disagreements over the involvement of a
       | for-profit company and the potential financial gains from selling
       | the transgenic seedlings.
       | 
       | In summary, the attempt to save the American chestnut tree
       | through genetic modification has faced setbacks due to a mix-up
       | in tree identification, leading to internal conflicts and
       | questions about transparency and the future direction of the
       | restoration project.
        
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       (page generated 2024-05-27 23:01 UTC)