Wine Research Centre honoured by the Canada Science and Technology museums

Prof. Hennie van Vuuren, Director of the Wine Research Centre at UBC, has been honoured by the Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation in Ottawa for major scientific breakthroughs that will prevent the formation of neurotoxins and carcinogens in wine.

Industrial wine yeasts have been genetically improved in van Vuuren’s laboratory and subsequently patented, licensed and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada and Environment Canada for commercial application in the U.S. and Canada. These are the first two genetically enhanced yeast in the world that have been approved for commercial wine making.

The Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation in Ottawa comprises the Canada Agriculture Museum, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, and the Canada Science and Technology Museum. A poster, archived equipment from van Vuuren’s laboratory and packaged malolactic and ethyl carbamate preventing yeast strains will be permanently incorporated into the Agriculture Museum.