Genetic improvement of non-GMO wine yeasts: Strategies, advantages and safety

•Wine industry requires enhanced strains to solve commercial and manufacturing problems.•GMO approaches have been disused due to society refusal.•Several renewed non-GMO techniques are now used.

Wine yeasts are critical in the winemaking process as they affect several aspects; e.g., aroma composition or fermentation. Thus wine companies and researchers have attempted to enhance these aspects by different approaches, including genetic modification. However, this powerful technique has been disused given consumers' rejection of GMOs. In this review we summarise several aspects of lack of acceptability of genetically modified wine yeasts, which range from legal facets to ecological and safety risks. Finally, we review the alternative techniques developed and frequently used in recent years to enhance wine yeast without producing GMOs, such as adaptive evolution or artificial hybridisation.