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Our project for this year is BIOBEER, where we are genetically engineering the biosynthetic pathway for resveratrol production into a brewing yeast strain. Resveratrol has been shown to have a plethora of health benefits, including anti-cancer and anti-viral activity, cardio- and neuro-protective effects, modulation of diabetes, and anti-aging effects. Although research has been done previously to produce resveratrol in various organisms, no one to date has developed a yeast strain able to synthesize resveratrol in a de novo manner. We are going one step further, characterizing resveratrol production during anaerobic fermentation with the intent of creating a beer that contains all the health benefits of wine. Additional work includes optimization of the resveratrol biosynthetic pathway, evaluating the scalability of optimal fermenting conditions, and the impact of adding woodchips to feed additional coumaric acid into the fermenting mix. Get ready for resveratrol in a fizzy ready-to-consume beverage!
- Ongoing work includes
- characterization of resveratrol production using only 4CL:STS and feeding p-coumaric acid
- construction of the full biosynthetic circuit and characterization of resveratrol production
- redesign circuit so that an antibiotic selection using bleocin (toxic) is not required.
- Possible switch to fluorescent screen (green beer?)
- adding woodchips to feed additional coumaric acid into the fermenting mix for additional resveratrol gain and improved taste.
- exploration of using our biosynthetic circuit in other industrial strains of yeast for whiskey, bourbon, vodka, etc infused resveratrol
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