A team of scientists from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have succeeded in inserting human muscle genes into a block of baker’s yeast for the first time.
An unlikely form of gene editing
Described in the review Cell Reportsthe unlikely breakthrough involved the integration of human genes expressing a metabolic pathway breaking down sugars to produce energy, a mechanism underlying many common disorders in humans. According to the team, this humanized yeast could be used to test drug compounds as well as cancer research.
« This may seem bizarre given that yeast is made up of only one type of cell, when the human cellular machinery turns out to be significantly more complex. “, explains Pascale Daran-Lapujade, lead author of the new study. ” But the functioning of their cells turns out to be very similar. »
Much easier to grow than human cells and tissues, yeast also has the advantage of being easily genetically edited in order to address fundamental questions: many key scientific discoveries, such as the establishment of the cell division cycle, have been made by studying such living organisms.
The team explained that they did not just transplant human genes into the cells yeast. “ We removed the corresponding yeast genes and completely replaced them with human muscle genes “says Daran-Lapujade.
Striking Similarities
If such an operation seems at first sight complex or even impossible, it turns out that notre genome contains homologs of one-third of yeast genes and that about 32% of their protein amino acid sequences overlap, implying that half of the yeast genes can be replaced by their human equivalents.
Carried out in collaboration with the University Medical Center of Groningen, the experiment showed in particular that the properties of human enzymes produced in yeast and in normal human cells were surprisingly similar.
« This is just the first step », Underlines Daran-Lapujade. ” We can further modify yeast to build an even more complex human environment. »