b'Innovation to altered and we could have resist-ant Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Preserve Tradition Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Chardonnay and so on that could be used to make the high value AOP or DOC wines. Alternative methods such as the tra-ditional crossing and selection scheme would not allow to maintain the genetic identity of the varieties traditionally used for wine making, thus making the new varieties much less useful and attractive because they represent entirely new varie-ties with the following two disadvantages:1)They cannot be used for tradi-tional AOP or DOC wines.2)They require a learning curve by the wine makers that need to understand how best to use them to make high quality wines. Wine makers on the contrary have accumulated centuries of knowl-edge about the traditional wine varieties.An additional opportunity is offered also by genome editing technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9. Resistance to fungal pathogens in plants can be achieved not only by deploying resistance genes that recognize the arrival of the pathogen and prevent its spreading, but also by inac-tivating susceptibility genes, i.e. plant genes that are needed for the pathogenLeaf discs infected with Plasmopara viticola (downy mildew) of a sensitive variety (left) and a resistant one (right).to enter plant cells. One of them, a sus-ceptibility gene to powdery mildew, has been identified in grapevine and precise editing could be used to inactivate it and obtain powdery mildew resistant vari-eties. The same pros and cons in com-parison to traditionally bred resistant varieties listed above for cisgenesis would apply here. ES: WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THE RECENT ECJ DECISION, STATING THAT VARIETIES CREATED WITH THE NEW PLANT BREEDING METHODS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GMOS?MM:The decision appears not to be based on logical but rather on ideological considerations and represents a serious obstacle on the way to a more sustain-able European agriculture that meets the ambitious goals set forth in the Farm to Fork strategy recently presented by the European Commission. A thorough revision of the 2001/18 directive regu-lating GM crops in the European Union is urgently needed in order to take into account the technological advances thatControlled crossing procedure, used to make the resistant varieties.have occurred over the last 20 years. EUROPEAN-SEED.COMIEUROPEAN SEED I 11'