Costly Prohibition Of Grapevine Gene Splicing Threatens California Wine

Lynne Kiesling

As if I don’t have enough regulatory reasons to want to bang my head against the wall … Iain Murray’s recent post over at The Commons about Pierce’s Disease, and how the EPA’s overbearing regulation of gene-spliced plants reduces the genetic resistance of the vines, is utterly appalling. This is a ridiculous regulation that threatens the livelihood of an entire industry.

The Tech Central Station article by Henry Miller from which Iain’s post quotes, is a good and exasperating read on this topic.

Pierce’s Disease has traveled from Mexico to Temecula, and it made it from Temecula to the Bay Area in just three years. Gene splicing is a proven technique for avoiding such pestilence. Why does the EPA persist in discriminating against it unfairly, and in the face of all sensible science?

Grrrrr.