CRISPR Chardonnay – Italy Doubles Up

The University of Verona’s edited vines are already in the field, and soon it could be the turn of the Edmund Mach Foundation and CREA-CNR. Once again, the focus is on Chardonnay, edited to resist downy mildew (with a double knock-out approach) or powdery mildew. I spoke with the key figures of this new chapter in Italian research: Mario Pezzotti, Sara Zenoni, Umberto Salvagnin, Riccardo Velasco, and Vittoria Brambilla. Returning to write for Nature Biotechnology is a joy for me, especially because this time, Italy is leading the way in innovation rather than holding it back, as in the past. Prosit!

A must-read recommended by Doudna, Gates and…

The Italian publisher did me the crazy honor of including a quote from me on the back cover of the best book of the year (IMHO), along with quotes from CRISPR inventor Jennifer Doudna and Bill Gates. The autobiography of Katalin Karikó, the mRNA vaccine scientist, is a must-read for those who love great science and great minds. We had already blogged about her in the aftermath of the Nobel Prize.

Field of CRISPR dreams in Italy

You may have heard of the recent European Commission report on the New Genomics Techniques. But you probably don’t know how member states answered the related questionnaire. ““Could NGT-related research bring opportunities/benefits to science, to society and to the agri-food, medicinal or industrial sector?”. This and more in my news feature for Nature Italy.