French winegrower advocates an open-minded approach to vine genome editing

s there a place for genetic innovation in the vineyards of the future? In an open letter, winegrower and farming activist André Baniol takes a firm position in favour of the technique: “The accumulation of lies and acts of destruction have shaped an apocalyptic image for the concept of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). However, it seems to me perfectly possible to explain that gene transfer by genetic manipulation does not make the receptor more dangerous than transfer by backcrossing, either for the environment or for human consumption”.

Addressed to the chairs of the French Institute of Vine and Wine (IFV) and the specialised wine board at FranceAgriMer, the letter adds to votes in favour of new genome technologies. Abbreviated as NBT (New Breeding Techniques), the term covers a set of techniques developed since 2001 that can modify an organism’s genome in a highly targeted way using ‘scissors’ to lend it a precise characteristic.

Baniol believes this is a way of getting rid of pesticides without changing grape varieties. "They would simply receive the genes for resistance to fungal diseases, without losing their aroma and flavour characters or their names, which is pivotal to market access”.

Aynard de Clermont-Tonnerre, Secretary General of the Assembly of European Winegrowing Regions (AREV) and a winegrower in the Centre-Loire Valley, agrees. “Unlike GMOs, new genome technologies (NBTs) allow benign changes to be made with no unknown or dangerous consequences”, he says.