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Greek Scientist Creates Computer Controlled Yeast

Scientists in the USA and Switzerland under the guidance of Greek Professor John Lygeros have succeeded in forming a “feedback loop” between a computer and a common yeast to precisely control the switching on and off of specific genes.

The computer controlled flashes of light to start and stop this gene expression, “learning” how to reach and maintain a set value.

The groundbreaking approach could find use in future efforts to control biological processes, such as the production of biofuel from microbes.

Professor Lygeros and his colleagues started with the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae – a well-studied strain of yeast familiar since ancient times in brewing and baking. This study has also been published in journal named ‘Nature Biotechnology’.

A study in the same journal in 2002 found that when S. cerevisiae is exposed to light, a molecule called phytochrome within it can switch forms; red light converts it to an “active form” and a deeper red converts it back.

The activity of the phytochrome can start or stop the genetic machinery that results in the production of a given protein.

The team used this trick to ensure that when the yeast was producing that protein – corresponding to the gene being switched on – it could be tracked by using a “reporter” molecule that itself gives off light in a process called fluorescence.

The work adds to a growing amount of scientific literature in which the delicate machinery within life can be bent to the will of experimenters.

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