GE set to tame the wrath of grapes

By ARIFA AKBAR

LONDON - Researchers have found that genetically modified yeast added to wine may prevent hangovers.

In what may become a wine drinker's dream they have also found that the addition of modified yeast could improve the flavour of wines.

But the breakthrough is unlikely to become a reality in the immediate future because winemakers do not want to be associated with GM because of its negative image among consumers.

Researchers in the latest edition of the New Scientist say that winemakers are interested in the possibility of GM to improve vines, but the biggest potential for improvements could be in the yeast they use.

Traditional winemakers rely on natural yeasts that grow on grape skin, but GM yeasts would be more reliable because they could help improve the sugar-acid balance and body of the wine.

Florian Bauer, from the Institute of Wine Biotechnology at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, said GM wines could also reduce illness the morning after, as most hangovers were not due to alcohol alone.

Neurotoxic amines and sulphur dioxide in wine also contribute to hangovers, so commercial yeasts that produce relatively harmless anti-microbials could help to prevent heavy heads.

Despite consumer doubts about GM products, the dilemma could be resolved if wine made with GM yeasts did not contain any yeast DNA, meaning that technically it is not GM. Products such as cheese already use a technique similar to this.

But European Union rules state that cheese does not have to be labelled because the GM element is a "processing aid" with no trace in the final product. The same regulations would not apply to wine because it may retain some yeast cells.

The likelihood of seeing GM wines on supermarket shelves remains low, with every researcher contacted by New Scientist saying that they had no plans to use GM products in commercial winemaking.

But scientists could use GM yeasts as models which can be experimented with in order to get the same results without using GM technology.

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