Trees genetically engineered to grow faster and bigger will be planted on private land in Georgia and Pennsylvania by US firm Living Carbon starting early February. The company says its modified poplar and loblolly pine trees can capture more carbon than unmodified trees, but hasn鈥檛 yet demonstrated this outside a laboratory setting.
, the company鈥檚 CEO, says 4 million to 5 million trees will be planted by the middle of 2024. Living Carbon plans to both sell the trees themselves and sell carbon credits based on the carbon sequestered by tree-planting projects it manages.
The genetically engineered trees have three genes added to make photosynthesis more efficient, including a gene from squash and another from algae. In earlier tests, Living Carbon researchers introduced the genes into trees with a species of bacteria commonly used in plant bioengineering that can integrate specific stretches of DNA into cells it infects. Lab tests show the addition enables the trees to recycle more of a waste product from photosynthesis, increasing the amount of CO2 each plant incorporates into its biomass.
Advertisement
鈥淚n theory you have more CO2 available for photosynthesis, then you can make more sugar, then you should be able to grow more,鈥� says at Oregon State University. Strauss was formerly on the company鈥檚 advisory board.
The company has reported that in greenhouse tests on poplars modified with the bacteria, the fastest-growing tree gained 53 per cent more biomass than unmodified trees over five months, taking in around 27 per cent more carbon. These results have not been peer-reviewed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a completely open question whether this technology works in the real world,鈥� says Strauss. He is working with Living Carbon to test modified poplar trees on a research plot in Oregon, but says they will need to grow until at least the middle of 2024 for researchers to know whether they perform as well outside the lab.
The trees that will be planted in Georgia and Pennsylvania were not modified with bacterial insertion but with a gene gun that shoots DNA-coated pieces of gold into cells. at Living Carbon says they have tested trees modified in this way in greenhouses and found they have growth rates similar to the poplars modified with bacteria.
Because no plant pathogen was involved in modifying the trees, the US Department of Agriculture determined it had no over them.
Hall did not identify specific sites in Pennsylvania and Georgia where the trees will be planted because 鈥減eople might not have friendly intentions towards them鈥�. However, a press release from the company identifies Stanley Farms in Georgia as a land partner. 快猫短视频 was unable to reach representatives from the farm for comment.
at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has used similar techniques to enhance photosynthesis in tobacco and soybean plants. He says while the company has not demonstrated conclusively that the trees will capture more carbon, it makes sense to move ahead with test projects in the field. 鈥淭heir goal is not to publish papers,鈥� he says. 鈥淭heir goal is to grow bigger trees.鈥�
Sign up to our free Fix the Planet newsletter to get a dose of climate optimism delivered straight to your inbox, every Thursday
