Inside the Forestry Source: Biotechnology Has Potential to Mitigate Forest Threats
February 13, 2019
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National Academies: Biotechnology Has Potential to Mitigate Forest Threats by Steve Wilent
According to a report issued in January by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, “Biotechnology has the potential to help mitigate threats to North American forests from insects and pathogens through the introduction of pest-resistant traits to forest trees.” The report,
Forest Health and Biotechnology: Possibilities and Considerations, recommends research and investment to assess and improve the utility of biotechnology—genetic engineering and similar technologies—as a forest-health tool.
At the request of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities, the National Academies assembled a Committee on the Potential for Biotechnology to Address Forest Health to investigate the potential use of genetic engineering in trees to address forest health; this report is the product of their work.
The committee noted that “challenges remain: the genetic mechanisms that underlie trees’ resistance to pests are poorly understood, the complexity of tree genomes makes incorporating genetic changes a slow and difficult task, and there is a lack of information on the effects of releasing new genotypes into the environment.” It recommended research and investment in three areas:
1. Knowledge about tree genetics related to resistance
2. Data and tools for impact assessment
3. Management approaches that take into account disciplines beyond biotechnology