Key Takeaways
- SilvaBio, a forest biotechnology company, and Foray Bioscience, a plant biomanufacturing company, are collaborating to explore fabricated seeds for restoring the American chestnut.
- The partnership pairs SilvaBio's genetics and breeding platform with Foray's fabricated seed technology, which grows encapsulated plant embryos that can be sown like conventional seeds.
- Chestnut blight killed more than four billion American chestnut trees in the early twentieth century, rendering the species functionally extinct.
- SilvaBio's work builds on the Darling 54 line developed with SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, with blight tolerance validated by independent studies at SUNY ESF, Purdue University, and the University of New England.
- Under the signed agreement, Foray will develop fabricated seeds for SilvaBio's blight-tolerant chestnut lines under a multi-year development and production roadmap.
SilvaBio and Foray Bioscience Target Chestnut Restoration at Scale
SilvaBio, a forest biotechnology company that develops, produces and sells disease-tolerant hardwood seedlings, and Foray Bioscience, a plant biomanufacturing company, have announced a collaboration to explore how fabricated seeds could accelerate restoration of the American chestnut. The partnership combines SilvaBio's genetics expertise and breeding platform with Foray's fabricated seed technology, which grows encapsulated plant embryos from plant cells that can be sown like a conventional seed to produce a whole tree. The companies aim to meet growing demand for American chestnut seedlings across the species' 200-million-acre native range.
The American chestnut was once among the most abundant and economically valuable trees in North America until chestnut blight, introduced in the early twentieth century, killed more than four billion trees and rendered the species functionally extinct. SilvaBio's work builds on the Darling 54 line developed with SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, with blight tolerance validated through independent studies at SUNY ESF, Purdue University and the University of New England.
SilvaBio Moves Chestnut Genetics Toward Deployment
SilvaBio is using genomic prediction, accelerated breeding and advanced micropropagation to build a portfolio of American chestnut genetics aimed at maximizing diversity and long-term resilience, with plans to sell improved seedlings to landowners, conservation organizations, government agencies and forestry professionals pending deregulation.
“At SilvaBio, our goal is not simply to grow more trees-it is to help restore the American chestnut as a thriving, genetically diverse component of Eastern forests. The American chestnut's return represents an extraordinary opportunity to reverse one of the greatest ecological losses in North American history and potentially achieve the first successful return of a tree species from functional extinction,” said Michael Bloom, Co-Founder and CEO of SilvaBio.
Fabricated Seeds Aim to Scale Blight-Tolerant Genetics
Under the agreement, Foray will develop fabricated seeds for SilvaBio's blight-tolerant American chestnut lines as part of a multi-year development and production roadmap between the two companies. Dr. Ashley Beckwith, Founder and CEO of Foray Bioscience, said the technology is intended to help proven genetics reach commercial scale.
“For restoration of the American chestnut, identifying trees with blight-resistance is a critical first step. The next challenge is making those genetics scale. Foray's fabricated seed platform is designed to make scaling targeted trees a fast, predictable, repeatable process. That's how a breakthrough in the field becomes a forest,” said Dr. Ashley Beckwith, Founder and CEO of Foray Bioscience.
SilvaBio's broader technology platform is also being applied to other hardwood species facing disease pressure, including ash, oak, elm and walnut, as demand for optimized seedlings grows among forest owners and land managers.
