Yeast

It takes tons of plant matter to make each gram of the cancer drug vinblastine. To find an alternative source, scientists have engineered yeast to produce the precursors of vinblastine, which could help make this vital drug more available and affordable.

Scientists have created new artificial microbes by combining two very different organisms into one functioning entity. The hybrid of a yeast and a bacterium adds evidence to a long-standing hypothesis on how advanced life may have evolved.

One of the first products made using an animal-free egg white is now available in the United States. The unique macarons are the first to be made with an egg white protein produced by engineered yeast, designed to be indistinguishable from chicken eggs.

While non-alcoholic beer has some obvious advantages over its traditional counterpart, many people say that it just doesn't taste as good. Danish scientists now claim to have overcome that problem, using genetically engineered baker's yeast.

The CRISPR gene-editing tool has been successfully used in space for the first time. Researchers onboard the International Space Station have edited colonies of yeast to study how they repair DNA damage, which could one day help protect astronauts.

Although women in First World countries are routinely diagnosed with and treated for vaginal yeast infections, doing so isn't always possible for women in impoverished nations. New fungus-detecting hygiene products, however, could make things easier.

Life continually outdoes expectations. A new study from MIT has found that E. coli and yeast can survive in an atmosphere made up of 100 percent hydrogen – and that could have fascinating implications for life on other planets.

With psilocybin on the cusp of becoming a clinically validated and approved medicine, scientists are exploring new ways to produce the chemical. Now a team has presented a novel method of producing the psychedelic chemical using common yeast.

Doctors are reporting a bizarre case of a woman who urinates alcohol. The woman showed none of the other regular signs of excessive alcohol consumption, leading them to conclude that yeast in her bladder was brewing the booze.

In an exciting new breakthrough from scientists at UC Berkeley, common brewer’s yeast has been engineered to produce several major cannabinoids found in marijuana. This innovation promises faster, cheaper and easier production of these compounds for use in research and medical treatments.

To peer back in time at certain key steps of evolution, scientists at the Scripps Research Institute have engineered synthetic microorganisms designed to be similar to some that might have lived billions of years ago.

Researchers at Purdue University have developed a living device for radiologists, using yeast colonies in wearable patches to monitor how much radiation a person is being exposed to.