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WINEMAKING This sounded like pretty cool stuff to me, and while I was mull- ing over how to write up the presentation for this column, an article in The New York Times in late April drove home the point. The write-up discussed the publication in the journal Nature of a study by a team from the European Molecular Biology Labora- tory in Heidelberg, Germany, suggesting that the ecosystems of microbes in the human gut fall into three distinct types that are not dependent on age, location or ethnicity. The idea that human digestive systems may work in different, knowable ways has enor- mous implications for diet and nutrition as well as the prevention and treatment of disease. Who knows? It might even supply a scientific validation for the kernel of truth in the now-discred- ited ancient theory of the four humors—black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood—that dominated Western medicine until the 19th century. In any case, that result came through comprehensive PCR and related techniques. "The gut folks have really figured this out, gotten their forces together and said, 'We really want to use this technology,'" Leveau said. A week later, as I was sitting down to write this, the Times struck again, this time reporting that scientists had published research in The New England Journal of Medicine establishing a link between armadillos and leprosy, finding the same strain of Mycobacterium leprae in several infected patients in Loui- siana and in wild armadillos in the area. How did they figure this out?" Whole-genome resequencing," yet another variation on my theme. Now if researchers using cutting-edge PCR can learn stuff this interesting and important from stool samples and cuddly armadil- los, just imagine what they could do with wine. The Roche 454 sequencing system makes it possible to identify the DNA of novel microbes harvested from a single grape. Wine, unveiled Mills and Leveau concentrate on a small section of DNA called ribosomal RNA (rRNA), a component found in the DNA of all cells in all life forms. rRNA controls the synthesis of proteins and carries critical taxonomic information, allowing researchers to know what kind of critter the DNA fragment comes from, even if they don't know everything about the critter. It reminds me a bit of the header bytes in every computer file; they will tell you that a particular file is a JPEG image, and that it's 32 megabytes of stuff, but don't reveal whether it's a reproduction of the Mona Lisa or a picture of your neighbor's baby. #1 Industry Website Headlines Features Columns Newsbriefs Calendar Archive search (866) 453-9701 • winesandvines.com 52 Wines & Vines JULY 2011