are there any trees that have been genetically modified to create termite and rot resistant timber? I think that could not only help consumers but also preserve forests because only plantationed trees would be considered valuable as building products.

Expert response from William Powell

Professor and Director, Counsel on Biotechnology in Forestry, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Wednesday, 23/09/2015 16:25

Interesting question. To my knowledge nobody is specifically developing a termite and rot resistant timber by using genetic engineering. But that doesn’t mean some researchers at a company or a university are not looking into this possibility, just that I haven’t seen any publications to date. On an aside, the American chestnut (Castanea dentata) has very high termite and rot resistance. We lost the American chestnut as a timber tree due to a blight caused by an exotic pathogen introduced into our forest over a century ago. But genetic engineering has recently produced blight resistant lines of American chestnut that may be reintroduced to our forests in the future. This would provide an excellent construction wood for places challenged by termites.