By: Frances Kueper and Devika Rao
Evergreen trees have traditionally been used to celebrate winter festivals for thousands of years. Pagans decorated their homes with the branches of evergreens during the winter solstice, as it made them think of the spring to come. Roman temples were decorated with fir trees during the festival of Saturnalia. Today, Christmas trees are seen through the windows of homes all across the US throughout the Christmas season.
However, without biotechnology and genetic engineering, these Christmas trees would look drastically different. In the place of full, green branches and a long-lasting, crisp scent would be a disaster such as the one below…
Dr. John Frampton of North Carolina State University is the most well-known scientist in this field. His main goal is to use genetic engineering as a method of improving the viability of Christmas trees. Dr. Frampton’s research has a significant economic motivation: every year, more than 30 million households in America purchase Christmas trees. Christmas trees are one of the most popular products in North Carolina. According to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the state sells 20% of all real Christmas trees in the US and made $75 million in profits in 2011 alone.
Dr. Frampton’s research is tremendously beneficial to farmers and assists them in dealing with one of their greatest concerns: the Phytophthora root rot. This disease is a fungus-like microbe that spreads throughout fields in groundwater. The tree turns orange and the soil becomes unprofitable once it is attacked. To make matters worse, the plague is unstoppable once it is in the soil. Dr. Frampton and his team are working to stop the Phythophtoa. The procedure involves grafting Fraser fir (a popular Christmas tree species) branches onto the roots of the Japanese Momi fir, a Phytophthora-resistant tree. It is hoped that this crossbreeding would result in a plague-resistant Christmas tree, decreasing the financial losses caused by Phytophthora. Through developments such as these, Biotechnology and gene editing have proven to play a crucial role in the development of improved Christmas trees.
References:
Rchiochette, Por. “Christmas and Biotechnology.” Biotechnology Facts, 23 Dec. 2014, https://biotechfacts.wordpress.com/2014/12/23/christmas-and-biotechnology/.
JPC-DESIGN, whychristmas?com /. “The History of Christmas Trees on Whychristmas?Com.” Why Christmas, https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/trees.shtml.
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