Every season, wine makers fight the same battles to protect their grapevines that they've been fighting for thousands of years. From ancient Mesopotamia to today's vineyards, these eternal enemies include fungus and bugs, extreme heat and unseasonable cold, says an Associated Press report carried by www.sfgate.com.

Now, Missouri State University researchers hope to apply genetic technology to make cultivated wine grapes as hardy as their wild cousins. At the newly created Centre for Grapevine Biotechnology, researchers are working to identify and transplant individual genes that make native grapes resistant to funguses plaguing the European and hybrid vines that most wine is made from.

Unlike the traditional cross-breeding of plants, genetic modification holds the potential for transferring specific traits without changing others, like the distinctive flavour of a pinot noir or chardonnay. It would also be much faster than the years it takes to grow hybrids.

The research is part of the International Grape Genome Program, a global effort among wine making countries. It aims at deciphering the roughly 30,000 genes in a vine, locate the ones that account for particular traits, such as hardiness or yield, and finally transfer desirable genes to the wine grapes.

For the complete story, go to www.sfgate.com

( Hyperlink: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/06/15/financial/f013947D33.DTL )