Genetically modified trees could mean more sustainable wood

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One of the most efficient solutions to fighting climate change could be growing in your backyard. Trees are essential for removing carbon dioxide from the air while simultaneously releasing oxygen. Estimates suggest a mature tree absorbs over 48 pounds of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere per year—but there is still room for improvement. Now, in a study published today in the journal Science, an interdisciplinary team of chemists, engineers, and environmental scientists are optimizing the way trees can further help to create a sustainable future.
To do that, they are delving into trees’ genetic makeup. “I don’t think the general public fully understands or appreciates the impact trees have on our society and in reducing carbon emission. Understanding the genetics of this critical resource is important, especially for producing fibers that’s important in our buying economy,” says Daniel Sulis, a postdoctoral scholar at North Carolina State University and lead study author.

Sulis and his colleagues have made the first successful attempt to use gene editing to streamline the process of wood fiber production. The authors modified the genetics of poplar trees to reduce the amount of lignin—an organic component that acts as the backbone to give trees its rigid and woody structure. By reducing the amount of this hard structural material that trees produce, paper production takes less time and, in turn, causes less pollution.