(Yakima-Herald) - Sometimes, science needs to ask, "What if?" Washington State University researchers spent 11 years coming up with an answer. But before we share it, you need to know something about Washington's wine grapes: They're grown like few others in the world. Across most of the globe, growers graft their plants onto roots resistant to Phylloxera, a tiny, ravenous insect responsible for decimating Europe's wine industry in the 19th century. Even wine areas in California, Oregon's Willamette Valley, Australia and British Columbia all have switched to rootstocks after run-ins with Phylloxera. One of the biggest exceptions is Washington, where the pest has yet to take hold. No one knows exactly why, but researchers speculate a combination of climate, soil and relatively isolated growing regions may be factors.