Has anyone heard anything about the Darling 58 genetically modified American Chestnut that is resistant to the blight? Last I heard the USDA was reviewing it for approval to sell.
Still being reviewed… They have thousands of trees planted, and have had at least three generations of trees in the “wild” (in very controlled plots). There has been a lot of fort going in to introducing more diversity into the Darling 58 variety, with pollen from a wide range of American Chestnut populations being used to make the next generation.
Here’s the 2021 update for the program: https://www.esf.edu/chestnut/progress-report/2021.htm