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Why study yeast?

yeast cell Yeast is an extremely powerful experimental system for studying what goes on inside eukaryotic cells. Experiments can be done using yeast that just can't be done with other organisms.

yeast cellYeast cells are eukaryotic cells. This means that many of the mechanisms that allow yeast to be alive (use energy, grow, replicate, communicate) are shared with all eukaryotic cells, including animal cells and plant cells. Thus, what we learn about yeast can often help us know more about other eukaryotes as well. For example, the 2001 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to yeast geneticist Lee Hartwell for his discoveries of how the cell division cycle is regulated.

yeast cellYeast cells can replicate in 90 minutes. This means that millions of copies of a single cell can be obtained in several days. This makes it possible to search for rare, but informative, genetic variants among millions and millions of individuals. Genetic manipulation of yeast cells allows powerful experiments to be performed that can reveal important information about how cells work.

yeast cellThe entire DNA sequence of the yeast genome is known. Consequently, there is a vast array of tools and resources available for studying yeast genetics and cell biology. Because of the experimental advantages of yeast, much of what we know about the core eukaryotic cellular mechanisms have been learned in yeast. For example, many of the genes found in the human genome project were able to be identified and named because their yeast counterpart had already been studied.