Researchers at Columbia University have developed a cheap and easy to use Fungal pathogen sensor based on store bought baker’s yeast. Currently available methods for detecting specific fungi involve expensive equipment, the use of refrigeration, and trained personnel. Using the team’s technique may result in cheap, readily available testing for a Variety of Fungal Pathogens that a layman can perform.
While the Yeast used is indeed the commonly available Variety (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), it has been Genetically modified to produce protein cell surface receptors that stick to target fungi as well as lycopene, the chemical that gives tomatoes their red color. When the cell surface receptors stick onto a fungus they were Engineered to seek out, they turn red, pointing to the presence of the pathogen.
A Variety of yeasts can be generated at low cost that attach to different Fungal pathogens, and the researchers have already done that for about a dozen or so. Detecting whether something is turning red requires only a person without color blindness. All this means that it seems like everything is in place to allow Genetically modified Yeast become a common Fungal testing platform that can be used just about anywhere in the world.
07-08-2017, 02:47 PM
Genetically Engineered Baker’s Yeast Detects Variety of Fungal Pathogens
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