Why is yeast relevant to biomedical research?
Normal cell division is central to normal growth and development not only of yeast cells, but of humans as well. But humans are very complicated, so it is easier to establish basic principles in simple model organisms. Importantly, the human versions of a number of yeast cell cycle and DNA repair genes have been found to be directly involved in human cell division. Malfunctions can lead tocancer or birth defects. The normal activity of these genes is most easily studied in the yeast cells, which are readily manipulated in the laboratory. This provides important insights into their mechanisms in humans, which helps direct experiments in more complicated cell types. Studying the control of cell division in yeast is thus very relevant to human health and understanding many clinical disorders. That’s why two researchers studying cell division in yeast received the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with a third investigator studying sea urchins! For a description of their la
