Yeast Produces Human DNase1 for the First Time

The human protein is currently produced only in mammalian cells with considerable effort and money

06-Jun-2025 - The protein DNase1 is one of the oldest biological agents in history: It has been on the market since 1958 and is now used, among other things, to treat cystic fibrosis. However, it takes considerable effort to produce it in immortalized hamster cells. This process is also costly. It would be far ...

How cells deal with extra chromosomes

Findings could yield new approaches to dealing with treatment-resistant tumors or fungal infections

24-May-2024 - Having extra chromosomes is typically an issue for an organism and can disrupt development or cause disease. But some cells benefit instead: For example, cancer cells or pathogenic yeasts can use extra chromosomes to escape treatment and become drug-resistant. A team of researchers from Charité – ...

Breakthrough: Weight loss drug from highly toxic plant can now be produced in yeast

From “Seven Steps to Death” to a potential obesity cure

11-Jan-2024 - In China children are taught to steer clear of this plant. The plant, Thunder god vine, which in China has earned the nickname “Seven Steps to Death”, is so poisonous that a person risks death only a few steps after consuming it. But despite its deadliness, the Thunder god vine (Tripterygium ...

A new order for brewer`s yeast

An artificial chromosome combines all t-RNA genes for cellular protein production: milestone in the international synthetic yeast genome project

14-Nov-2023 - For years, researchers have been working to synthetically recreate the genome, or more precisely, the chromosomes of brewer's yeast. Now it has been possible to combine all transfer RNA genes in an artificial chromosome. The result sets a milestone in the development of the first synthetic ...

Microbiome composition influences depression

Disturbances in the microbiome increase the risk of numerous diseases

21-Dec-2022 - Our microbiome, the billions of microorganisms that live in and on our bodies. They control many important bodily functions, including those in our brain, and, research by Amsterdam UMC, the University of Amsterdam and Erasmus MC delivers the most extensive evidence to date of a relationship ...

Most colors are eco criminals: Here’s how to make purple greener

Goodbye to crude oil-based dyes: Biotech start-up and scientists revolutionize paint production

21-Dec-2022 - The colors of our clothes, cosmetics, furniture and all sorts of things around us are nearly all based on crude oil, making them far from environmentally innocent. University of Copenhagen researchers have teamed up with Danish biotech start-up Octarine Bio to create new types of sustainable ...

Microbiologists improve taste of beer

05-Oct-2022 - Belgian investigators have improved the flavor of contemporary beer by identifying and engineering a gene that is responsible for much of the flavor of beer and some other alcoholic drinks.The researchappears inApplied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for ...

Anti-cancer drug brewed from reprogrammed yeast

Engineered yeast cells can synthetically produce the essential cancer medicine vinblastine, an international team of scientists proved

14-Sep-2022 - In the summer and fall of 2019, some cancer patients experienced interruptions in their treatment. The reason was a shortage of the drugs vinblastine and vincristine, essential chemotherapeutic medicines for several types of cancer. There are no alternatives to these drugs that are isolated from ...

Scientists use copper nanowires to combat the spread of diseases

02-Aug-2022 - An ancient metal used for its microbial properties is the basis for a materials-based solution to disinfection. A team of scientists from Ames National Laboratory, Iowa State University, and University at Buffalo developed an antimicrobial spray that deposits a layer of copper nanowires onto ...

Hybrid electro-biosystem upcycles carbon dioxide into energy-rich long-chain compounds

Upcycling CO₂ via electrochemical and metabolic engineering

03-May-2022 - Artificial upcycling of carbon dioxide (CO2) into value-added products in a sustainable manner represents an opportunity to tackle environmental issues and realize a circular economy. However, compared with facilely available C1/C2 products, efficient and sustainable synthesis of energy-rich ...