In a breakthrough for synthetic biology, an international team of researchers constructed a functioning yeast genome where more than half of its chromosomes were made in a lab. Continue reading Scientists create yeast with a half-man-made genome
by Piyush Nandafigures by Corena Loeb Around 600 million years ago, single-celled life transitioned to multicellular life forms, begetting a paradigm shift in the definition of life on earth. This was an event so remarkable in earth’s timeline that it would set the stage for the evolution of complex organisms, from sponges to the human body we each reside in. These complex life forms eventually … Continue reading Grand Evolutionary Transitions: The eruption of multicellularity
What’s in that sourdough starter? New research sheds light on the mysterious microbes that influence our bread. Continue reading The Secret Life of Sourdough
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh used caffeine to understand how fungi become resistant to antifungal drugs. Continue reading Waking Up to Antifungal Drug Resistance
Bioengineers from the University of Texas at Dallas have developed a new form of composite material by incorporating yeast into a gel. They demonstrated that the composite can change size depending on the nutrients present around the gel and that different shapes can be formed by genetically manipulating the yeast. Continue reading It’s Alive!: A Living Smart Material
by Jenny Zheng figures by Rebecca Clements With winter soon coming to an end (hopefully), many of us have been plagued by seemingly endless hacking that’s accompanied by phlegm, a type of mucus produced by the respiratory tract. The body starts feeling better after a week of sickness, but even after that “hell-week,” one final foe has to be dealt with: the phlegm. It’s such … Continue reading All About That Mucus: How it keeps us healthy
The importance of basic research has been highlighted this year by Yoshinori Ohsumi receiving the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on the process of autophagy. Autophagy—literally “self-eating”—is a fundamental cellular process that degrades and recycles cellular components. During autophagy, fatty capsules, or vesicles, form around internal components of a cell (autophagosomes), are fused with a lysosome, an acidic cellular compartment that breaks down its … Continue reading The importance of basic research and the Nobel Prize in Medicine
About two months ago we published a short report on a new study that pioneered creating an entire chromosome of yeast; an organism with similar cellular organization as humans. Just a week ago, a discussion flared up on Reddit about the consequences for everything from creating human brain-less organ farms to custom babies. The study will really only benefit basic sciences and advanced biotechnology, where people use … Continue reading Genetically modified yeast and Science Fiction