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Science

GM Yeast Produces Human Protein 31

Posted by michael from the sourdough dept.
Makarand writes "A team of US scientists has been able to genetically modify yeast to produce fully human protein. Human protein chains have specific groups of sugars attached which determine how these proteins will fold and function. The process of attaching these sugars to the protein, called glycoslylation, which has always evaded researchers can now be been carried out in the labaratory using genetically modified yeast. The team removed the yeast's genes that added sugars to the protein in a 'non-human' way and added five new genes to the yeast to add the sugars required by the human protein to fold and function."
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GM Yeast Produces Human Protein More

GM Yeast Produces Human Protein

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  • "That could be your little brother in the bottom of the glass."

    Cheesey.

  • One of the scientist's homepage (Score:3, Informative)

    by camilita ( 694206 ) on Monday September 01, 2003 @04:14AM (#6843222)
    You can find more info on Tillman Grengross, the only scientist mentioned in the article, at his faculty homepage [dartmouth.edu] at Dartmouth.

  • my only question... (Score:3, Funny)

    by BortQ ( 468164 ) on Monday September 01, 2003 @04:18AM (#6843231) Homepage Journal
    Is it kosher?

  • DNA huggers (Score:4, Insightful)

    by amcnabb ( 682951 ) on Monday September 01, 2003 @04:23AM (#6843242) Homepage
    A lot of people seem to think that anything genetically engineered is automatically bad. Obviously we need to be careful when it comes to ecosystems, etc., but the DNA-huggers don't see many of the wonderful things that can come through genetic engineering. The advance described in this article is really amazing.

    Any treatments that involve human proteins will be benefited by this technique, including antibodies and hormones, as mentioned in the article.

    Science can't solve all problems, but it's always exciting to see advances like this which will make a big difference in real people's lives.

  • suprise (Score:5, Funny)

    by annisette ( 682090 ) <fdnewell@hotmail.com> on Monday September 01, 2003 @04:55AM (#6843323)
    So the boss suprised them during their 10:00 am kegger and they had to think real fast.

  • Maybe we'll like having a yeast infection... (Score:3, Informative)

    by tibike77 ( 611880 ) <.moc.oohay. .ta. .zemagekibit.> on Monday September 01, 2003 @10:03AM (#6844218) Journal
    Well, it will largely depend on what those GM yeasts "eat" and how many usefull/useless/harmless/harmfull "byproducts" these GM yeasts make...
    Think about it: a small "bulge" of half a pound yeast culture, eat it once (warning: various antibiotics will kill them, so you'll have to make a "refill")... then eat all sorts of cheap stuff (raw cereals, treebarks, grass or even paper) and never be hungry again: the GM yeast cultures in your digestive tract will take those "useless" (for normal humans) balasts and turn them into a nutritious meal...
    Say hello to the newest restaurants in town: a stack of hay for the lady, fresh oak tree barks for the sir... coming up :)
    Yummy!
    • yeast culture, eat it once (warning: various antibiotics will kill them, so you'll have to make a "refill")

      Actually, antibiotics kill bacteria, not yeast. There's a balance within the body of microorganisms, including bacteria and yeast, that keep each other's growth in check.

      So what you could see while taking antibiotics would be a possible overgrowth of yeast within the body. Not so much fun.

      This is a fantastic development, though, and a huge step ahead for new medical therapies.

    • While it's an interesting idea, it reminds me with the nutrient pill idea. You know, that in the future there will be this pill and it will be all you need to survive.
      The main problem with this is not just the technology, it's that so many people actually enjoy eating a good meal. It's like a cure for sex. Certain people might think it's a great idea, but most people don't really want it.
      I saw a similar thing about high tech nano fiber clothes where the author said, isn't this great, you could
    • Hmm, I don't wanna brag about infections or lack of it or anything but I had the "pleasure" of experiencing something just like that (not having to eat anything really) for quite a while and let me tell you it's rather alienating...

      BTW is it normal if your skin looks like it has had H2O2 poured over when you start taking in RNA/DNA from pills? Been quite a while since this happened and I guess human DNA cannot be much worse that that awfully retarded period in my life so bla...

  • Mmmmm... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    soylent beer.

  • Argh! (Score:3, Funny)

    by eviltypeguy ( 521224 ) on Monday September 01, 2003 @11:47AM (#6844699)
    This yeast is made of people! Peeeeoooppplleee!

    (Pardon the Soylent Green reference).

  • GM Yeast... (Score:3, Funny)

    by greenhide ( 597777 ) <`moc.ylkeewellivc' `ta' `todhsalsnadroj'> on Monday September 01, 2003 @02:19PM (#6845377)
    Sheesh, why can't those people just focus on making reliable cars?

  • How about that... (Score:3, Funny)

    by gcalvin ( 325380 ) on Monday September 01, 2003 @05:49PM (#6846187) Homepage
    I never knew that GM had a yeast division. Well, I'll tell you one thing: I want the Cadillac yeast, not any of that cheap Chevy yeast.
  • ....what I want to know is what kind of starter does it make?

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