tagged w/ Yeast
-
We may not have the appetite for human-derived gelatin but it has its health benefits, says Andrew Marszal.
Reports last week that researchers could be just six months away from producing the world’s first artificial meat, using thousands of stem cells bred in a laboratory, sent a wave of fascination around the world. Yet there is an even more ghoulish prospect ahead: the idea of eating artificial food made from humans.
This may sound like science fiction, yet a new technique for making gelatin from human DNA is attracting “increasing interest from research and industrial circles”, according to a new study by scientists from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology. The paper, published recently in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, revealed that successful experiments had been carried out in which human genes were inserted into a strain of yeast to “grow” large amounts of recombinant (genetically engineered) human gelatin.
Gelatin has a long history of use as a gelling agent by the food industry – and, according to the journal’s publisher, the American Chemical Society, human-derived gelatin “could become a substitute for some of the 300,000 tons of animal-based gelatin produced annually for desserts, marshmallows, candy and innumerable other products”.
There would be safety issues to consider. When an ice-cream parlour in London began selling flavours derived from human breast milk earlier this year, it was soon withdrawn for hygiene reasons. The Food Standards Agency said: “There would be a restriction on the sale or import of this type of product, because it would require a pre-market safety assessment.”
However, scientists do not believe that the new gelatin product would pose any risk. “There’s a very high degree of similarity between gelatin that comes from a cow, a pig, and a human,” explains Dr David Olsen, senior scientist at FibroGen, which specialises in recombinant gelatins. “So due to their similarities, I can’t see why there would be a health risk to it. It’s a very similar protein to what people have been ingesting for many years.”
In fact, human-derived gelatin is already in use by the pharmaceutical industry in the manufacture of certain pills and vaccines. The highly controlled production techniques of the laboratory offer a more consistent product than “traditional” gelatin, which is made from the bones and skin of pigs and cows. More broadly, human genes are used by pharmaceutical firms in the production of insulin for diabetics, human growth hormone, and erythropoietin, which is used to treat anaemia.
In fact, the Beijing University scientists believe their method offers many health advantages over animal-derived gelatin. Researchers from the Sapporo Medical University of Japan have reported an increase in allergic reactions to animal-derived gelatin in vaccines, but such a response to human material is less likely. Moreover, the risk of gelatin transmitting animal-borne diseases such as BSE would be eliminated.
It remains to be seen, however, whether there is an appetite for human protein among the wider public. Dr Gregory Kaebnick, of the US-based Hastings Center for bioethics and public policy, says the idea of human-derived gelatin “appears to raise the question of cannibalism”, even though such concerns may be misplaced. “The gelatin is not derived from human tissue in the same way that animal gelatin is,” he says. “It’s really derived from yeast – yeast that have been modified with genetic sequences found in human beings.”
This difference may help remove the taboo borne by human-derived food products. “You really wouldn’t see it or recognise it,” says Dr Olsen. “It would almost be part of whatever the food is, and you wouldn’t notice the difference.”
Either way, it won’t appear in the organic aisle any time soon.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/8743068/Do-you-fancy-a-jelly-baby-made-from-human-DNA.htmlWe may not have the appetite for human-derived gelatin but it has its health benefits,... more
-
-
A Male yeast infection can go on undetected for a long time. Male yeast infection invariably develops as a result of using antibiotics for long intervals of time. Women will get a vaginal infection and this is the clue that things are amiss in their body. Read More >>>>>>>http://anewsfuse.blogspot.com/2011/01/male-yeast-infection-can-cause-other.htmlA Male yeast infection can go on undetected for a long time. Male yeast infection... more
-
-
In this Travel Bug Robert episode, Robert travels to fabulous Downtown Portland, Oregon. With the soggy climate, progressive politics, and large population of plaid-wearing hipsters, Portland fulfills many Pacific Northwest cliches. It's not a bad thing. Who doesn't like reasonable temperatures, public art, indie music, and microbreweries? Not to mention Powell's Books, a bookstore mecca for the literary-minded. It's all here in Downtown Portland.
Get more travel tips and videos at www.travelbugrobert.comIn this Travel Bug Robert episode, Robert travels to fabulous Downtown Portland,... more
-
-
"For all its Broadway success, “Urinetown” surely had the worst title in the history of the American musical.
And thus, after achieving fame and a small measure of fortune from the unlikely success of a show about a dystopia where citizens are forced to pay to pee, the creators of “Urinetown” are desperately trying to top themselves. What could possibly be a more impossibly awful topic for a musical? Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann think they have the answer with a show that has its first major production this fall at Chicago’s American Theater Company: “Yeast Nation.” “I really can’t justify or defend it,” Kotis says over coffee. “But ‘yeast’ is such an interesting word. It’s an outcast word. It’s not sexy. It’s not vulgar. There is such richness in that.”
There is?
And if you thought the title was strange, consider the premise.
“Yeast Nation” is set 4 billion years ago. All of the characters are single-cell organisms—or, if you prefer, yeasts. They all live at the bottom of the sea. They all eat only salt. And they are all named Jan.
Make you wanna sing and dance? Make you wanna lay down your hard-earned money?
“The show is very odd,” Kotis says, scratching his brow and cheerfully offering up a crashingly self-evident understatement. “You’re gonna know pretty soon if you’re happy to be there, or very unhappy.”
He searches for the right metaphor. Hollmann peers at his partner.
“It’s kind of like blue cheese,” Kotis says.""For all its Broadway success, “Urinetown” surely had the worst title... more
-
-
Viewing microscopic things that appear under the microscope as ultra visual effects is really fun and interesting.Viewing microscopic things that appear under the microscope as ultra visual effects is... more
-
-
Ever wanted to learn how to make your own wine? Patrick explains the process in 60 seconds. It's winetime! Yum.Ever wanted to learn how to make your own wine? Patrick explains the process in 60... more
-
-
A new species of yeast has been discovered deep in the Amazon jungle. In a paper published on-line in FEMS Yeast Research, IFR scientists and colleagues from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador describe the novel characteristics of Candida carvajalis sp. nov.
Yeasts have long been the powerhouses of our food and fermentation industries. Each new species adds to our knowledge of the yeast gene pool and even small genetic differences have the potential for major economic impact. Furthermore, as oil reserves diminish, the race is on to find novel varieties for use in sustainable biofuel production.A new species of yeast has been discovered deep in the Amazon jungle. In a paper... more
-
-
"An emerging form of the pathogenic yeast Candida is able to complete a full sexual cycle in a test tube, even though it's missing the genes for reproduction. And it may also do so while infecting us, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers.
"Sex contributes to the Candida yeast species' evolutionary success," said Joseph Heitman, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Microbial Pathogenesis in the Duke Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and co-author of two papers that tell the story in Nature and Current Biology. "I think the fact that it has a complete sex cycle is likely to play a role in the evolution of drug resistance in this emerging pathogenic yeast species. "
Yeast infections are notoriously hard to treat and yeast are one of the most successful pathogens and commensals in nature, he said. A commensal is an organism that benefits from associating with another organism without affecting the other. Humans are susceptible to three types of yeast infection: thrush (in the mouth and throat), vaginal infection, and a sometimes fatal systemic infection of bloodstream and organs, such as the kidney.
In a paper published online May 24 in Nature, Heitman's team reports that eight Candida species which have a sexual cycle were missing many of the genes related to reproduction found in other species.
"The unrecognized sex cycle could mean we need to develop new treatments to combat what is really happening in humans infected by yeast," said co-author Jennifer Reedy M.D. Ph.D.""An emerging form of the pathogenic yeast Candida is able to complete a full... more
-
-
A tiny colony of yeast trapped inside a Lebanese weevil covered in ancient Burmese amber for up to 45 million years, has been brought back to life in barrels of beer.
Emeritus Professor Raul Cano of the California Polytechnic State University, originally extracted the yeast a decade ago, along with more than 2000 different kinds of microscopic creatures.
Today, Cano uses the reactivated yeast to brew barrels of pale ale and German wheat beer.
"You can always buy brewing yeast, and your product will be based on the brewmaster's recipes," says Cano. "Our yeast has a double angle: We have yeast no one else has and our own beer recipes."
The beer received good reviews at the Russian River Beer Festival and from other reviewers. The Oakland Tribune beer critic, William Brand, said the beer has "a weird spiciness at the finish," and The Washington Post said the beer was "smooth and spicy."
Part of that taste comes from the yeast's unique metabolism. "The ancient yeast is restricted to a narrow band of carbohydrates, unlike more modern yeasts, which can consume just about any kind of sugar," says Cano.
Eventually the yeast will likely evolve the ability to eat other sugars, which could change the taste of the beer. Cano plans to keep a batch of the original yeast to keep the beer true to form.
If this has a ring of deja vu, it could be because Cano's amber-drilling technique is the same one popularised in the movie Jurassic Park, where scientists extracted ancient dinosaur DNA from the bellies of blood-sucking insects trapped in fossilised tree sap.
Cano's original goal was to find ancient microscopic creatures that might have some kind of medical value, particularly pharmaceutical drugs.
* * * * *
Click on the link for the complete article.A tiny colony of yeast trapped inside a Lebanese weevil covered in ancient Burmese... more
-
