Team:Groningen/education/science behind 2 en
FERMENTATION
OPTIMIZATION
IN SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
Musoke, or formally known
as Saccharomyces cerevisiae,
is also known as baker’s yeast.
This microorganism is characterised
by the ability to perform fermentation.
Fermentation
is a process in which
baker’s yeast takes sugars
from cereals and fruits
and turns them into
alcohol and CO2.
Thanks to fermentation,
humans have been able to
produce and consume
bread, wine and beer since
6000 - 3000 BC.
In the process
of making beer,
S. cerevisiae feeds
on the sugar from barley,
and produces ethanol.
Hop is then added into
the mix to give beer
its characteristic
flavour.
Hop
is a water and energy
intensive crop. Its price
has been increasing over
the years. Additionally, hop
is known to vary in its
composition of essential oils.
This is a problem because
a change in the essential
oils’ composition will
change the flavour
of the beer.
Synthetic biologists
can engineer S. cerevisiae
to produce molecules that
give the taste of hop.
This makes it easier to
achieve the desired “hoppy”
flavour in beer without
having to harvest
or purchase hop.
DID YOU KNOW?
There is a company
in the US that optimizes
beer and wine producing
S. cerevisiae strains
for these purposes.
They have also engineered
S. cerevisiae
to produce molecules with
various flavours.
If you like pineapple on your pizza,
you might also like one of their
pineapple tasting beers!
