The Perennial Struggle: Natural Selection vs. Evolving Science
There is a growing interest in family genealogy. Services such as Ancestry.com and 23andMe.com are mining our interest in tracing our roots – not only our family history but, increasingly, our genomic make-up.
We want to know more of our ancestors than strictly how they spent their lives or their contributions to society. Rather, in our nation of multiethnicities, we are increasingly seeking to determine our genetic origins. I have friends who, in the past year, spat into a tube, submitted this DNA culture to a research company and, to their surprise (chagrin?), were told they have as many as 10 ethnic or racial ancestral roots.
For several, especially those who had previously traced their ancestry to one or two ethnicities or races, this was an eye-opening experience. In the last quarter century, science has significantly expanded our understanding, and potential control, of our DNA make-up at an astounding pace.
So, too, with wine. For centuries, grape growers have endeavored to alter the characteristics of grapevines and the ultimate treasure of vines: grapes that are superior to their ancestors. Grapes that are hardier, more disease-resistant, more flavorful and more marketable have been cultivated since early Roman and Greek times. Today, man is diligently expanding his 21st century scientific enlightenment into the traditional realms of nature. Science is at a crossroads in developing super-strains of grapevines and grapes through DNA manipulation in the laboratory.
Man’s efforts to improve upon nature’s natural selection process has historically centered on grapevine hybridization and cloning, mainly through trial and error. Today, in a number of agricultural universities around the world, this rudimentary process is shifting from the vineyard to the research laboratory.
Examples of man’s efforts in the vineyard abound. For centuries, man relied heavily on nature to create new hybrids through the forces of wind, insects and birds to pollinate grapevines of different origins to create numerous hybrids. Sometime in the 17th century the art of grafting was developed. This entailed the attachment of young grapevine shoots bearing specific desirable traits, onto a rootstock that possessed the traits the young shoots lacked.
Thus began vineyard owners’ success in altering the very core of wine’s natural profile, resulting in grapevines’ resistance to disease, vitality and even the flavor of its grapes.
Was grafting an aspect of natural selection? Or was man intervening and interfering with nature? The question was never asked – until 1997.
In a groundbreaking 1997 project, a team of researchers at UC-Davis was able to break down the genetic code of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. DNA testing discovered that, through natural selection, it is the genetic child of two disparate grapes: Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. This startled the wine world: naturally hybridized red and white grapes could produce a robust, highly revered grape? And all of man’s grafting efforts to hybridize this grape were in essence incestuous?
Since the 1997 discovery, research efforts around the globe have accelerated in defining the DNA fingerprint of grapes. Efforts are underway to create new grape varieties in the laboratory, not in the field. New varieties that are designed, not hybridized; new varieties created from scientific method, not grafting trial and error.
The research team at UC-Davis, led by Dario Cantu, has begun a study, utilizing state-of-the-art technology, to analyze and eventually alter a grape’s genetic structure.
“The new genomic information that will be generated with this new genomics approach will accelerate the development of new disease-resistant wine grape varieties that produce high-quality, flavorful grapes and are better suited to environmental changes,” Cantu said.
In this new age of scientific enlightenment, is there a difference between attempting to influence the output of nature versus altering the very essence of nature? Nature versus nurture takes on a new meaning in the 21st century vineyard.
Nick Antonaccio is a 40-year Pleasantville resident. For over 20 years he has conducted numerous wine tastings and lectures. Nick is a member of the Wine Media Guild of wine writers. He also offers personalized wine tastings and wine travel services. Nick’s credo: continuous experimenting results in instinctive behavior. You can reach him at nantonaccio@theexaminernews.com or on Twitter @sharingwine.
