Baker's yeast and anti-aging therapy

With the increase of the elderly population, the number of elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other diseases will also increase exponentially

There is currently a class of drugs used to treat neurocognitive disorders and other neurological disorders (migraine, headache, etc.

To meet the global demand for this drug, 10-15 tons of D-lysergic acid (DLA) are produced annually

Using yeast and synthetic biology techniques commonly used to make bread, the team introduced enzymes from ergot fungus into baker's yeast, which happens to be another fungus

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications on February 7, 2022

"Using current yeast strains, up to 5 tonnes of DLA can be produced per year, and with further optimization, commercial production levels can be reached," explains Yew Wen Shan, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, NUS Faculty of Medicine, and co-principal investigator of the study

Seemingly insignificant things have the potential to transform human life, providing medicines that will allow us to age better and reduce the environmental impact of industrial drug production

Garrett Wong, Li Rong Lim, Yong Quan Tan, Maybelle Kho Go, David J.