Using yeast endosymbiosis to understand eukaryogenesis

How we used yeast and E. coli to see endosymbiosis in action Introduction Eukaryota are a wide-spanning domain of life that includes animals such as us, fungi and plants. They are distinct from Bacteria and Archaea as they contain membrane-enclosed organelles such as the nucleus which stores a cell’s DNA. Understanding Eukaryogenesis (how Eukaryota emerged […]

Transforming society through yeast genetics

Case Study: Paul Nurse, Francis Crick Institute On the whole, society is pretty positive about science. If you look at any of the surveys you will find the figures show 70 to 80% of people are in favour of science and of scientists. And if you compare that with say politicians or lawyers it’s down […]

Discovering the power of yeast

Case Study Maitreya Dunham – Cold Spring Harbor Yeast Genetics & Genomics Course I really enjoy science because of the element of discovery and creativity that goes into it. There is nothing more exciting than finally figuring something out or having a good idea and then going to see if it will work or not. […]

Inventing the engine for understanding biological networks

Inventing the engine for understanding biological networks University of Toronto My major motivation in life and science is exploration. Canoeing, snowboarding and fly fishing where no one has before, going somewhere new, that is what drives me. I think our lab has done two things that are really interesting. Firstly we figured out what thymine […]

Yeast Tetrad Dissection

Jay YangSinger Instruments, Roadwater, Somerset, UK, TA23 0RE Summary Tetrad dissection is a vital tool for yeast geneticists. It is a method by which sporulating yeast cells are teased apart, and the individual cells isolated. Specially designed micromanipulation tools are used to carefully separate the cells of interest, which are then transferred to a new […]

Single Cell Screening

Jan SingerSinger Instruments, Roadwater, Somerset, UK, TA23 0RE Summary Single-cell screening often involves using a microscope to view the morphology or growth patterns of individual cells when certain nutrients are removed or chemicals/drugs are introduced. It is an essential tool to determine how microorganisms function. Historically, this form of microscopy has been fraught with difficulties. […]

Age Analysis

Replicative Lifespan Analysis Jan SingerSinger Instruments, Roadwater, Somerset, UK, TA23 0RE Replicative lifespan (RLS) analysis is a vital tool for yeast geneticists interested in ageing studies. The replicative lifespan of a yeast cell refers to the number of daughter cells one mother cell can produce before becoming senescent. To do this a virgin mother cell […]

High Throughput Population Genomics – ROTOR+ PIXL

Designer chromosome synthesis with the help of PIXL

The Yeast 2.0 Project The Cai lab is at the forefront of synthetic genomics, DNA synthesis automation, and applying synthetic biology approaches to antimicrobial drug discovery and designer chromosome synthesis. Most notably, they are one of the teams tackling the Sc2.0 project, an ambitious, global effort to re-design and synthesise an entire yeast genome. Professor Patrick […]

PIXL Efficiency Report: Agar-Agar

Tom Drake, Singer Instruments, Roadwater, UK. Introduction Colony picking is a vital part of many standard laboratory workflows. With higher throughputs, laboratories now consider automation to standardise this task. Colony pickers are required to consistently produce viable results, whilst tracking their actions for repeatability. This research investigates the efficiency of PIXL; a measure of the […]

How to Dissect a Tetrad

Dissect your Tetrads with these simple steps.

How to Grow Yeast

Your step-by-step guide 15/03/2018 Introduction Here we will show you some quick easy ways to grow yeast in the lab. Yeast is one of the simplest eukaryotic organisms with which we share a common ancestor (albeit over a billion years ago) meaning yeast cells share many basic properties with our own cells. They also come […]