Wine related articles
Italians find gene key to fab wine
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Cracking pinot grape's life
code compared to first moonwalk
(ANSA) - Trento, March 20 -
Italian scientists have uncovered the 'life code' of the pinot noir
grape plant, a breakthrough destined to change the future of wine-making
.
On Monday experts from the San Michele
all'Adige Agrarian Institute presented the results of six years of
research, in which they decoded the plant's genome - the complex
molecular chains that constitute each organism's unique genetic heritage
.
The institute says the development will make
it possible to create new, more resistant grape plants that can produce
superior wines .
"Today's event is agriculture's equivalent of
the first moonwalk," said Riccardo Velasco, the head of the team that
decoded the DNA sequences, at Monday's press conference .
"Agriculture will never be the same again" .
Pinot noir, which is known as pinot nero in
Italy, is the first fruit and only the second food crop, after rice, to
have its genetic material laid completely bare .
Francesco Salamini, a former researcher with
the Max Planck Institute and a member of the San Michele all'Adige
Agrarian Institute's board, said the advance will lead to benefits for
the environment too .
This is because the information about the
plant's gene sets will make it possible to produce new pesticides that
protect it better but have less of an impact on the ecosystem. The
research shows that the pinot noir genome is spread across 12
chromosomes and is made up of around 500 million bases of DNA. The
institute, based in the northern Italian province of Trento,
collaborated in the project with the US firm Myriad Genetics Inc., which
has taken part in decoding human and rice genomes .
"It's a historic moment," said Mark Skolnick,
Myriad's Chief Scientific Officer. "Let's hope that next time we can
toast with wine obtained from this research" .
Pinot noir is a red grape used by wine-makers
all over the world .
It is somewhat delicate, but is widely
considered to produce excellent wines .
Its recent popularity was boosted by 2004
comedy Sideways, which is set in California's Santa Ynez Valley wine
area. Pinot noir is the favourite wine of the movie's main character,
Miles .
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