How to Make Yeast Tremble and Suffer Energy Loss: Yeast Models for Prion and Mitochondrial Diseases

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SELECTBIO

Yeast has long been used as a powerful model system for basic research aimed at deciphering the most fundamental cellular mechanisms. Over the past decade, yeast has also been used as a model and tool for biomedical research. This use extends from the field of diagnostic to drug discovery and drug production. We are developing yeast-models for a variety of human diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative and several inherited disorders. The example of development of yeast models for mitochondrial and prion-based diseases will be presented. These models are used in many different ways, ranging from deciphering new cellular mechanisms involved in the pathology of interest to the discovery of candidate drugs and of their mechanisms of action.