Wine yeast: Searching for novel answers in As, Cs, Gs and Ts

To molecular biologists, yeast is as intriguing as it is tractable. As a simple model organism - a single-cell fungus millions of times smaller than the period at the end of this sentence - yeast continues to shed new light on some of life's biggest scientific challenges such as the biology of cancer and ageing. Amenable to almost any modification that modern biology can throw at a eukaryotic cell, yeast is also an ideal host for genetic improvement, whether by traditional breeding and evolutionary mechanisms or engineered using modern technology. Past, present and future contributions of yeast research to the general body of scientific knowledge, and practical applications of this knowledge, form part of the thousands of tiny waves that drive the tides of progress.