French scientist Jean Masson carefully unlocks the gate of a heavily protected open-air enclosure. Behind the fence and security cameras there are no wild animals or convicts, just 70 vines. In the heart of the picturesque Alsace wine region, researchers have planted France’s only genetically modified vines in the hope of finding a way to battle the damaging “court-noue” virus afflicting a third of the country’s vines. The modified plants will not grow grapes or yield any wine, and scientists at the state-financed National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), which is conducting the experiment, say it is safe. “The environmental risk is nil,” said Masson, head of INRA in the eastern town of Colmar. “We have taken all safety measures.”
