Scientists can directly genetically modify yeast

[Conman13]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-03/nlmc-ssf032414.php

Scientists were able to directly insert chromosomes in to yeast cells. Does this mean we can make our own yeast and turn whatever knobs we want? Seems exciting!

 

[ColoHox]

We've been able to genetically modify yeast for a long time now, turning on and off particular genes. To synthesize an entire functional chromosome is particularly incredible though.

And for what it is worth, don't get reliable scientific news from eurekalert. Use Nature, or Science articles instead.

 

[madhatt3r]

We've been able to genetically modify yeast for a long time now, turning on and off particular genes. To synthesize an entire functional chromosome is particularly incredible though.

And for what it is worth, don't get reliable scientific news from eurekalert. Use Nature, or Science articles instead.

^ Eh, you don't really wanna use those either. I've spent (read: wasted) a considerable amount of time trying to replicate results from supposedly "vetted" and "peer reviewed" articles in both those journals. Ask any of the authors, and most will say the results found in these papers are the 2 or 3 positive results from running the experiment 20 times. Its disheartening when you think about it. Not to say they're all complete garbage, just a good chunk of them.

A good tab to keep open when reviewing papers is www.retractionwatch.com

 

[ColoHox]

^ Eh, you don't really wanna use those either. I've spent (read: wasted) a considerable amount of time trying to replicate results from supposedly "vetted" and "peer reviewed" articles in both those journals. Ask any of the authors, and most will say the results found in these papers are the 2 or 3 positive results from running the experiment 20 times. Its disheartening when you think about it. Not to say they're all complete garbage, just a good chunk of them.

A good tab to keep open when reviewing papers is www.retractionwatch.com

As have I, for many, many years. I would disagree that a good chunk are complete garbage. I know many bioscience journal editors and am quite familiar with the peer-review process. 2-3 positive results from running an experiment 20 times is incredibly common. If you can't handle the constant disappointment for the one moment of success, the sciences are not for you.

 

[madhatt3r]

As have I, for many, many years. I would disagree that a good chunk are complete garbage. I know many bioscience journal editors and am quite familiar with the peer-review process. 2-3 positive results from running an experiment 20 times is incredibly common. If you can't handle the constant disappointment for the one moment of success, the sciences are not for you.

The fact that it is a common, I'll use the word "pervasive", practice should not make it an accepted one. Skepticism and constant challenge to the accepted notion is what can bring back the industry from the "publish for cash" revolving door model it has become. I applaud you for staying optimistic when faced with this issue, I just feel a healthy dose of pragmatism would do some good for the industry as a whole.

Sorry for the hijack OP.

As for the topic of fully synthetic eukaryotic chromosomes, that opens the doors for some very interesting manipulation.

 

[vinylrooster]

I'm a biochemist and the scientific world is quite excited about this discovery actually, it's really going to open the door what what can and cannot be done genetically. The funniest part of it all in my opinion is the small army of undergrads (over 60) that were required to do all of the cloning to make one chromosome. Ha. I can barely handle 3-4 of them at one time.

 

[CA_Mouse]

They modify the yeast used to produce insulin, this is nothing new and hardly exciting for the brewing world.

 

[ColoHox]

They modify the yeast used to produce insulin, this is nothing new and hardly exciting for the brewing world.

Except the didnt just insert the insulin machinery into the native chromosome, they built the whole thing.

 

[vinylrooster]

They modify the yeast used to produce insulin, this is nothing new and hardly exciting for the brewing world.

Actually, they modified Saccharomyces cerevisiae otherwise known as brewer's yeast. Here's a direct quote from the primary research article:

"Here, we report the synthesis of a functional 272,871–base pair designer eukaryotic chromosome, synIII, which is based on the 316,617–base pair native Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome III."

SOURCE: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2014/03/26/science.1249252

 

[Hjandersen]

Genetic modifications of all sorts of organisms have been doable for decades. The problem, if you will, is that most organisms (including yeast strains) are already pretty optimized. If you tweak one quality the organisms likely become inferior in some other aspect, e.g. increasing draught resistance in plants giver lowers total yields and so on..