Researchers have found a mechanism for the common yeast and computers to create a “feedback loop” in order to control genes by activating and deactivating them.

The computer was directing the gene expressions by flashing light onto the yeast to let it learn how to reach certain level and remain at a set value.

Professor John Lygeros led the team in conducting experiments with the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is one of the most studied strains of yeast from the ancient times due to its ability to assist in brewing and baking.

They based their study from another research done back in 2002 showing that when this strain of yeast is exposed to light, the phytochrome within the yeast molecules can change forms and can enable itself to activate or deactivate genetic machinery to produce a specific protein. A red light switches it on while a deeper red light switches it all off.

With this, the researchers were able to gain control and have a “feedback loop” as they hooked everything up with computers. They were able to record how much light exposure is needed to optimally get the right amount of gene expression that they needed. They can now easily have a full report on how many yeast cells are able to express a certain gene, then switch them all off when not needed.

This research and methodology may prove to be worthy and highly valuable in how scientists may start controlling some essential biological developments and progression. This may be applied to the production of biofuel from microbes. The methodology seems to be quite simple in its manner in order to have full control of the downright complex biochemical processes to get to a final goal.

“The great thing about this research is that a lot of people who have had a hand in making this work, for example, coding in the cell itself a synthetic circuit, placing genes and mechanisms right inside the cell. That alone had limited triumph up until the discovery of this new gene control process,“ said John Lygeros, who is the senior author of the Automatic Control Laboratory in the Swiss Federal Institute of Techonology in Zurich.