Yeast as a Biotechnological factory

Abstract

For thousands of years, yeast has been used for making beer, wine and bread. Production of these commodities relies on yeasts natural ability to rapidly consume sugars and convert them into carbon dioxide and alcohol. Mostly due to tremendous progress in genetic engineering during the past 50 years, yeast is nowadays also used for production of biofuels, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. It can even be engineered to consume cheap waste materials instead of sugar, thus lowering the costs of production. With these striking possibilities, yeast is truly a biotechnological factory on a cellular level, which presents a greener and sustainable alternative to many oil-based production processes. We have developed the workshop “Yeast as a Biotechnological factory“, targeted for families, and presented at the European Researcher´s Night, in Braga, Portugal. We will discuss how the participants were engaged in several hands-on activities, that highlighted the power of yeast in the production of several products, of our daily life. The results of inquiries applied to the participants will also be presented.