Research results in significant breakthroughs for grape, wine industry - Researchers at the Vitus Gene Discovery Program at the Center for Grapevine Biotechnology in Missouri State University’s W. H. Darr School of Agriculture announced two major breakthroughs:  Norton, the state grape of Missouri, has now been sequenced; and the first DNA virus ever discovered in grapes has been sequenced. The genome of the new virus is a double-strand circular DNA molecule. Close association of this DNA virus with an emerging grape disease will lead to a more detailed study of the new virus that will help prevent further spread of the virus and the loss of grapevines in vineyards. KY3

Grapery™ introduces New Cotton Candy® variety to select retailers - Cotton Candy was developed and patented by International Fruit Genetics (IFG). IFG developed this variety of grape in its Delano, Calif. based breeding program over a 10-year period. Cotton Candy was created under an exclusive contract with the University of Arkansas, by using traditional breeding methods to cross the best California grape varieties with grapes bred at the University of Arkansas. Fresh Plaza

 Moderate Alcohol Consumption Linked To Women's Health - Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health analyzed nearly 14,000 responses to the Nurses’ Health Study -- one of the largest ongoing women’s health studies in the U.S. They found that women who reported drinking approximately one alcoholic beverage per day at age 58 had a 20 percent better chance of “successful aging” than their non-drinking counterparts. The researchers defined “successful aging” as making it to 70 with good cognitive function, no major chronic diseases, no physical limitations and good overall mental health. Huffington Post

Climate Change Offers Up a New Wine List - You’ve probably heard of the wines that made Napa and Sonoma famous, like Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay. But what about Negroamaro or Nero d’Avola? They’re wine grapes that are well-adapted to hotter climates – the kind of conditions that California may be facing as the climate continues to warm. But for wineries that have staked their reputations on certain wines, adapting to climate change could be a tough sell. Climate Watch

Lack of Sex Among Grapes Tangles a Family Vine - For the last 8,000 years, the wine grape has had very little sex. This unnatural abstinence threatens to sap the grape’s genetic health and the future pleasure of millions of oenophiles. “Previously people thought there were several different families of grape,” Dr. Myles said. “Now we’ve found that all those families are interconnected and in essence there’s just one large family.” New York Times

A Focus on Grape Genetics - Scientists with ARS’s recently established Grape Genetics Research Unit (GGRU) in Geneva, New York, study the full gamut of grapes grown in the United States, including those grown in California’s semiarid valleys and in northeastern states that experience cold winters. Agricultural Research Service 

Wine family tree revealed - From Riesling to Merlot, wine grapes from around the world are more closely related than expected, says the largest study so far to produce a family tree of grapes. The tree also reveals that in 6,000 years of domestication, breeders have left a vast swathe of possible varieties unexplored. New Scientist

Climate change threatens to spoil Ontario’s signature wines - As a heat wave grips Ontario, grape growers in the province face their own set of challenges as warmer temperatures radically change the dynamics of their industry. Hotter summers can cause heat stress for grapes, which can threaten signature Ontario whites such as chardonnay and riesling. CTV News

Aussie reconciliation over Chile grape spat - An Australian campaign in April against Chilean grape imports culminated in the suspension of the first shipment from the South American country. The Australian Table Grape Association now claims its campaign was taken out of context, and has offered conciliatory words to the Chilean industry. CEO Jeff Scott says Australia is looking to boost its presence in Asia and would be happy to collaborate with Chile, if its competitor were interested. Fresh Fruit Portal

China holds back grapes - ATGA chief executive officer Jeff Scott said China was one of the world's biggest table grape-producing countries, harvesting seven million tonnes compared with Australia's 125,000 tonnes, but exported a much smaller proportion of its grapes. Weekly Times

In ancient Rome it was so pervasive it was called "Roman fever" and may even have caused the decline of the feared Roman army.  The Chinese referenced its terrors in 2700BC.  The medieval Italians called it mala aria – "bad air" – and kept their doors and windows shut against it.

The actual cause of malaria was first discovered only 1880, some 50,000 years after the parasite which causes the disease first started infecting humans.  Charles Laveran, a French army doctor, first viewed the Plasmodium parasite inside the red blood cells of people suffering from the disease.  He won the 1907 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his efforts.  It wasn’t till 1898 that Sir Ronald Ross, working in Calcutta, first identified the transmission pathway of Plasmodium from Anopheles mosquitoes.

Since then we’ve been trying to murder the little menaces off.

Provocative and quirky, Grape is the highly readable story of vineyards and wines in South Africa. It takes us from the earliest Dutch settlers’ struggle to plant vines under difficult conditions, through slavery, the forgotten black wine makers, land disposession, a long history of making plonk (with a few exceptions) and the emergence of a world-class fine wine culture in the 1990s.

In gripping journalistic style, Grape follows the fluctuating fortunes of the wine industry and the growth of a thriving table grape export business, recounting the stories of real people, from slaves and farm workers to the modern-day businesmen who buy wine farms not for the returns, but for the almost mythical status of owning a wine farm.

Stimulating and wide-ranging, Grape debunks many myths as it brings to life the realities of life on a wine farm. It grapples with contentious issues like the dop system and Foetal Alchohol Syndrome, the threats posed by climate change, the move to biological farming and the role of wine in South Africa’s exports and economy.

A mix of history and economics, journalism, agriculture, and geography, Grape is first and foremost the true account of a divergent group of people, many of whom were classified “Coloured”, whose lives have revolved around the vine.

Download the press release and Vivien Horler's writeup in the Cape Argus.

On 11 May 2011, Vanessa Lynch (with the DNA Project) and Poonitha Naidoo (Medical Rights Advocacy Network, MERAN) debated the ethical challenges of using a forensic DNA database in SA. The debate was part of the 2011 Darwin Seminars hosted by the African Genome Education Institute.

Advances in the field of genetics make it possible for police to use DNA profiling as a forensic tool to identify and convict criminals. Currently in South Africa, biological samples may be collected from crime scenes (blood, semen, hair), and processed by a forensic laboratory to produce a DNA profile.  

Storing profiles in a DNA database is a way of linking DNA of known suspects with DNA found at crime scenes. But concerns over privacy and police corruption make the management of such a database problematic. Last week (ED: 11 May 2011), the African Genome Education Institute debate the ethical considerations surrounding a forensic DNA database, many of which inform the 2009 Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill currently before Parliament.

The Welcome Trust is now accepting applications for the second "Molecular Approaches to Clinical Microbiology in Africa" laboratory course.

Details are as follows:

• Molecular Approaches to Clinical Microbiology in Africa
• 10-16 September 2011
• Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Blantyre, Malawi Application Deadline: 29 April 2011
• Website: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Education-resources/Courses-and-conferences/Advanced-Courses-and-Scientific-Conferences/Advanced-Courses/index.htm

The course is free to attend and financial assistance is available for travel and accommodation.