Overview
- APHIS recognized the deregulation of Darling 54 on August 28, 2026, concluding the tree is unlikely to pose a greater plant‑pest risk and removing it from oversight under 7 C.F.R. Part 340.
- Darling 54, developed by SUNY‑ESF, carries a wheat gene that produces oxalate oxidase, an enzyme that breaks down the fungal oxalate linked to chestnut blight and gives the trees higher blight tolerance.
- EPA approval remains the next formal step and must be completed before Darling 54 can be planted or sold to the public.
- The American Chestnut Foundation and some researchers have raised concerns that the wheat gene insertion disrupted another gene and that test trees show reduced growth and survival, which could hurt long‑term forest competitiveness.
- The ruling is widely seen as a precedent for using genetic engineering in species restoration while TACF continues a traditional Chinese‑American chestnut breeding program that it estimates could produce trees for planting in seven to ten years.