Category: Biotechnology

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Grape genomes galore

A little over six months ago researchers reported a high quality DNA sequence for the Pinot-Noir grape. ((Not, you will note, Merlot, which would have been way too easy.)) Now comes news that the USDA is planning to do a genetic analysis of more than 2000 additional grape varieties in its collection. These will not be full sequences. Rather, researchers will be looking for SNPs, ((Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, pronounced “snips”.)) places where the DNA sequence differs by just one letter between two individuals. These SNPs are most useful as markers that can be used to identify areas of the DNA that may harbour important traits. Breeders and researchers can use them to track the inheritance of specific traits; USDA singles out disease resistance and berry colour. And that will speed up the breeding of new grape varieties.

I know hardly anything about the world of grape breeding, but someone out there may be able to tell me: when was the most recent introduction of a newly bred variety that gained any traction within the world of wine-making? ((I’m told this type of question is called a bleg; using a blog to beg for an answer (not money).))

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More spud news than anyone needs

Today’s crop of heartwarming potato stories come to you from Peru, the Philippines and India. First, Living in Peru has a fluff piece about how Peruvians are not eating enough potatoes, and that something must be done about it. It also says that “Peru has 2,800 of the 3,900 varieties of potatoes that exist in the world today.” I have no idea where they got those figures, whether they are close to the truth, or whether we even know the truth. But I’ll try to dig a little deeper and report back.

Then comes the Philippines Information Authority with news that a new potato variety is to be released in that country, bearing the name of the president. How sweet. The article says that the “original planting material was sourced” from the International Potato Centre (CIP), and previously had the codename “13.1.1”. The variety is blight-resistant and high in solids, and is supposed to be good for organic conditions. Now, it would have been interesting to know a little more about 13.1.1, but some rapid checking revealed nothing. Again, I will dig further.

And finally, news from India that a local farmer’s son, who went to the US for training in plant physiology and pathology, has now come back and set up a tissue culture lab on the family farm. Now that’s what I call technology transfer. But you wonder what kind of a farmer the father is. Not your typical Indian farmer, I’ll wager.

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Nibbles: Gene smuggling, teaching, UG99, fungi, fermentation, horse, livestock

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To eat or not to eat, that is the question

I don’t know much about Verlyn Klinkenbord, but I like the way he thinks:

Anyone who really cares about food — its different tastes, textures and delights — is more interested in diversity than uniformity. As it happens, the same is true for anyone who cares about farmers and their animals. An agricultural system that favors cloned animals has no room for farmers who farm in different ways. Cloning, you will hear advocates say, is just another way of making cows. But every other way — even using embryo transplants and artificial insemination — allows nature to shuffle the genetic deck. A clone does not.

Read the rest of his New York Times editorial — Closing the barn door after the cows have gotten out.