This Is How Scientists Would Like To Help Manufacture Hangover-Free Wines In A Genetically Engineered Way

A team of scientists has identified a “genome knife” that can be used to cut down the hangover caused by consumption of wine. The genetically engineered yeast can help improve the health effects of wine by suppressing the production of toxic byproducts that result in a hangover, a morning after it is consumed.

Until now, it has been a mystery for the scientists to break the polyploid strains of the yeast that ferment wine, beer and bread. Polyploid strains contain multiple copies of the genes in the genome. If any gene is altered with another piece of genetic material, the unaltered gene tends to replace the genetically modified piece of sequence.

The recent discovery of the genome knife or enzyme called RNA-guided Cas9 nuclease has crossed this hurdle. This enzyme has been found successful in genetically modifying the polyploid strains of baker's yeast, or Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The genetically engineered yeast has been given the name “jail breaking yeast.”

"With the genome knife, we can cut the genome very precisely and efficiently so we don't have to use antibiotic markers to confirm a genetic event," said Yong-Su Jin, principal investigator at the Energy Biosciences Institute, reported EurekAlert.

The scientists have claimed that the use of genetically engineered yeast can boost the amount of Resveratrol by 10 times, hence adding a health value to the wine. In addition to making the wine healthy, the modified yeast can also be used to improve malolactic fermentation, a process that releases toxic byproducts that cause hangovers.

The study has been published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

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