A cohort of Italian, Japanese, Swiss and Chinese scientists have recently discovered that beer yeast is the main ingredient in a “green technology breakthrough” for creating new medicines.
The research, published in Nature Communications, used brewer’s yeast to turn the organisms into “miniature fluorescent factories”, each capable of creating a unique peptide with potential therapeutic applications.
The discovery has resulted in being able to rapidly analyse macro-cyclic peptides used in modern medicine. The scientists say macro-cyclic peptides are promising drugs because they combine precision targeting, stability and safety, offering fewer side effects than traditional drugs.
Conventional methods for discovering and testing the peptides has been complex, difficult to control, slow, and environmentally “not friendly”, but that the beer yeast method was a game changer.
Sara Linciano, lead author and post-doctoral researcher at Ca’ Foscari’s Department of Molecular Sciences and Nano-systems said: “We manipulated yeast cells so that each one functions as a ‘micro-factory’ that becomes fluorescent when producing a specific compound. This allowed us to analyse 100 million different peptides rapidly and effectively.”
Ylenia Mazzocato, co-leader of the study, pointed out the sustainability benefits of the approach using the brewer’s yeast. “By exploiting the natural machinery of yeast, we produce peptide molecules that are bio-compatible and bio-degradable, making them safe for health and the environment, a truly ‘green pharma’ approach.”
Zhanna Romanyuk, who contributed to the structural analysis, noted: “Using X-ray crystallography, we demonstrated the excellent binding properties of these peptides, confirming their precision and potency.”
Alessandro Angelini, associate professor and study coordinator, added: “We are pushing the boundaries of this technology to create macro-cyclic peptides that can deliver advanced therapies directly to specific cells, potentially revolutionising treatments.”
Part of the new technology has already been patented by Ca’ Foscari and was recently acquired by the startup Arzanya S.r.l, showing its value and potential for modern medicine.
Beer yeast, derived from the beer brewing fermentation process, continues to grow in demand: it is broadly used in vegan food products, helps in electronic scrap recycling, and cleaning water by separating lead content.
