Gene-edited yeasts transform bread and give rice wine a banana taste

By editing the genomes of yeast, we can make bread with a stronger rise, potato chips that contain fewer potential carcinogens and rice wine that tastes like bananas.

Yeasts have been used in food production for millennia. The microorganisms direct the fermentation process that is important for winemaking, baking and brewing. Food scientists have isolated strains of yeast that work particularly well for specific applications, but Yong-Su Jin at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his colleagues wanted to use CRISPR gene editing…