First Contact It is impossible to pinpoint the exact moment that human beings encountered virtually any animal or plant. Even more difficult is trying to estimate a particular moment when we can say domestication is absolutely occurring or it absolutely is not. To be precise, we must first establish what we mean when we […]
Kingdom: Fungi Phylum: Ascomycota Class: Saccharomycetes Order: Saccharomycetales Family: Saccharomycetaceae Genus: Saccharomyces Species: cerevisiae Yeast are microscopic eukaryotic organisms belonging to the kingdom Fungi. Most yeast are single celled organisms, though occasionally a group of cells will clump together to form a semi-autonomous multicellular region known as a pseudohyphae. Yeast reproduce asexually either through […]
The most recent significant impact of yeast on human beings occurred within the last 100 years, and was at the root of my initial decision to choose them as my topic domesticated organism. As a life sciences student interested in human disease, my education has focused heavily on molecular biology and the physiology of microorganisms. […]
Panem et circenses!! If you go to any grocery store today you will see an entire aisle devoted to bread. Sliced bread, baked bread, bagels, donuts, whole grain, white, sandwich, French, Italian, sourdough, the list goes on and on. For nearly as long as there has been recorded civilization, there has been bread. And […]
Religions change; beer and wine remain. – Harvey Allen One of the earliest science experiments man stumbled across was the trick of fermentation. Leave out something sugary long enough and eventually it starts to contain ethanol (alcohol). A time consuming process, but one that leaves the user with a very sterile beverage usually devoid […]
Alba-Lois, Lousia. “Yeast Fermentation and the Making of Beer and Wine.” SciTable. N.p.. Web. 6 Apr 2014. <http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/yeast-fermentation-and-the-making-of-beer-14372813>. “Animal.” Biology-Online.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. <http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Animal>. Barnett, J. A., and Linda Barnett. Yeast Research: A Historical Overview. Washington, DC: ASM, 2011. Cavalieri, Duccio. “Evidence for S. cerevisiae Fermentation in Ancient Wine.” Journal of Molecular Evolution. […]
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Hello! Welcome to the wonderful world of yeast domestication. While not classified as animals or plants, yeast still deserve mention as an extremely underrated domesticated species. Ever wondered where exactly yeast come from? The page on Evolutionary History might quench your curiosity. Interested in yeast’s impact on humanity? Check out the pages on Bread, Beer, or Microbiology. Want to know where I’m […]
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