I have planted a Chinese chestnut tree on my property. It is doing well. I hope to maybe have chestnuts in 10 years or so. I expect the plant breeders could breed the resistance gene into the American strain by using plant breeding techniques, but the length of time to achieve such crossing would be in terms of decades, if not centuries, because of the long life span of the trees and the years it takes to reach maturity. I am of mixed feelings about introducing the resistance gene into the American chestnut genome. Chestnut trees provide shade and shelter for many species. The lumber is a fine grade that is useful for many things. I guess we will know there is something wrong with the gene transfer when the squirrels that will eat the chestnuts come down with symptoms of some strange disorder. For now I think the advantage of having chestnut trees again in our forests outweighs any hazard to our health. After all, how many chestnuts can a person eat? It's not like a main staple like corn or soybeans.
