Genetic Engineering

Some of the world's most tradition-minded manufacturers are confronting one of its most modern technologies. Genetic engineering is coming to the wine business. Christian Eedes investigates.Necessity, as the saying goes, is the mother of invention. Pierce's Disease is an insect-transmitted bacterium, which infects a vine's vascular system and kills it. Belonging naturally to the southeastern United States, it started appearing in California some 10 years ago. With America's most prestigious wine-producing region under threat, the scientific establishment had to react quickly.

 

Last year, a patent for the use of genes resistant to Pierce's Disease was issued to researchers at the University of Florida who had been working in conjunction with the US Department of Agriculture. Turns out that silkworm larvae possess a gene that kills bacteria and fungi. By inserting a synthetic version of this gene into embryonic grapes, vines resistant to Pierce's Disease can then be produced.

The US federal government, the California state government and wine industry sources have already contributed nearly $40 million to find a cure for Pierce's Disease, and a further $14 million has been allocated in 2002. Most research dollars are going to work involving genetic engineering.

The question is not therefore whether genetic engineering will have an impact on wine production, but just how great this impact is going to be. Advocates of this new science argue that modified vines will be more disease resistant, allowing the use of fewer chemical herbicides and pesticides. They will also offer higher yields of better quality, and even facilitate winemaking in previously unsuitable regions.

It's no coincidence that the breakthrough in the fight against Pierce's Disease came out of Florida, and not California. The former happens to be the third biggest consumer of wine in the US, but the development of a local wine industry has been severely constrained by environmental factors: until now, disease has prevented the successful farming of any of the noble varieties.

However, for all the scientific possibilities that genetic engineering offers, it also poses a series of ethical dilemmas. The French, not surprisingly, have been quick to highlight these. First came Terre et Vin de Bourgogne, a group of top Burgundian winemakers who banded together to combat the introduction of genetically modified grape varieties, root stocks and yeasts. This was later followed by the formation of Terre et Vin de Bordeaux and Terre et Vin du Monde - organisations with a similar agenda.

These bodies seek a 10-year moratorium on the introduction of any genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into vineyards and wineries. They have succeeded in winning over France's powerful Institut National des Appellations d'Origine, which has forbidden any genetically modified grape varieties and rootstocks for French AOC vines and wines, a decision that does not however extend to genetically modified yeasts. Thanks to some complicated politicking, they have also succeeded in delaying indefinitely the passing of legislation through European Parliament that would have approved the use of genetically modified vines.

It all stems from a commitment to - yes, you guessed it - terroir. If it became possible to grow any variety in any region, then the notion of a wine being true to its origins becomes worthless. Moreover, the introduction of GMOs is also seen as a threat to biodiversity: as modified organisms become increasingly prevalent, natural varieties might be displaced, resulting in the standardisation of vineyards. Not even a partial and controlled introduction of GMOs would be acceptable: the pollen of genetically modified vines would eventually mix with organic vines via the wind or insects; yeast cells used in one winery may take hold in others.

Obviously, the French are motivated as much by financial self-interest as winemaking purism. Over centuries, they have built up the knowledge of how to extract specific flavours in a wine, so as to be an authentic representation of terroir. If, all of a sudden, there were genetically modified yeasts that could be made to produce those same flavours, what competitive advantage would the French have?

Genetic engineering is here to stay, however. It's potential is undeniably exciting, but this is not to say it should be embraced unreservedly. The relationship between the genetic material of living things and their environment is interwoven, and tampering with this structure without due care, could have devastating results. It is important that genetic engineering is applied not in isolation, but with a thorough knowledge of ecology. Organic and sustainable farming research needs to receive funding equal to that spent on genetic engineering. Thankfully, the first genetically modified wine appearing on a supermarket shelf is still some way off. This gives us all some time to digest the news and policymakers time to find ways to prevent abuses without blocking scientific progress.