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Re:American chestnut trees are “technically extinct” by bluejekyll on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @03:24AM (#13479715)
I don't know if it understates the status of these new breeds. They haven't been proven, yet. It could be 50 years before it's clear that they are resistant.

My parents are also doing this on their property, it is exciting, and I hope this new breed is resistant to the fungus.

Re:American chestnut trees are “technically extinct” by spqr0a1 on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @03:43AM (#13479799)
From lab-scale plants it's clear that they are at least as resistant as the chinese chestnut the fungus is from. http://www.esf.edu/chestnut/resistance.htm

Of course the proof is a forest of full grown trees, but there's every reason to expect this method will get us there.

Re:American chestnut trees are “technically extinct” by cpfohl on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @09:47AM (#13481742)
You can be pretty certain the plants they've got are extremely resistant.

They designed a brand new type of testing for resistance to be able to make the progress they've made as quickly as they have. Instead of testing a whole tree they can effectively test blight resistance on a single leaf, allowing their time between generations to be measured in weeks rather than years. (Time to first leaf, rather than time to whole tree).

Re:American chestnut trees are “technically extinct” by bluejekyll on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @10:40AM (#13482229)
I hope that you and they are correct, of course. While reading through the information the NY organization had sent, it just appeared that they were less certain than that.

I am very excited. What was strange is that in order to accept the trees, you had to agree to an entire set of restrictions. You can not sell any nuts was one; another was you must cut down the tree if you ever sell your property, I suppose there is an exception if the new owner also signs onto to the agreement. Seemed a little awkward, but still worth it.