context
Many companies "green" communication suggest that they will offset carbon emissions related to their products of services by planting new trees. This is the case for a lot of polluting industries such as airlines. I consider it is mostly greenwashing as a new tree will take decades before it starts absorbing important amount of CO2.
idea
My idea would be to change trees genome to enable them to grow faster and thus reach earlier the size they need to absorb the most carbon dioxyde.
how could we act on the growth speed?
Trees growth is the result of cell division that happens in a tissue called meristem. This cell division is the consequence of genetic and environmental factors.
If we focus on the genetic factors:
→ CLE41 is an amino-acid sequence (peptide) that regulates the growth of a plant (it is also the case for all other CLE peptides).
→ Receptor kinase PXY controls the orientation and rate of cell division
Amino-acid sequences PXY and CLE41 could be manipulated using the gene editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 to impact the growth process.
references & existing research
Research has already been done on this topic. The results show some risks and limitation to the idea, genetically modifying tree being a possible cause of irreversible ecosystem consequences. Some suggest other levers to increase carbon sequestration in trees including making tree more resistant to their environment or slowing down decomposition.
The role of the PXY-CLE signalling pathway in regulating cell division during wood formation in Poplar. June 2016. Link
Wood Formation in Trees Is Increased by Manipulating PXY-Regulated Cell Division. April 2015. Link
Limited capacity of tree growth to mitigate the global greenhouse effect under predicted warming. May 2019. Link
These ‘supertrees’ are engineered to capture more carbon. June 2021. Link
How Trees Grow. Link
Biological Basis of Tree-Ring Formation: A Crash Course. May 2016. Link