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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : September 8, 2018 2:14 PM IST
Beer to taste better © Shutterstock
Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute in the UK have created a machine learning algorithm that may improve the flavour of the beer and also treat metabolic disorders in future. The scientists can predict yeast metabolism from its protein content. Metabolism is the process by which organisms convert nutrients into essential molecules and energy through a series of chemical reactions.
According to the PTI report, the study has been published in the journal Cell Systems and it shows that to a large extent, the metabolism of brewer's yeast (S cerevisiae) is predictable by machine learning algorithms, if they are provided with large amounts of protein expression information. However, the mechanisms controlling metabolism have not been fully understood.
Aleksej Zelezniak, a researcher at Francis Crick Institute reportedly said that due to machine learning now they have a better understanding of what controls metabolism, which is good news for brewers looking to create the perfect pint, or for biotechnologists that use yeast to produce vaccines and other proteins that are medically important.
As per as Zelezniak, scientists have been divided over whether metabolism is self-regulating or controlled by gene expression changes; partly because existing methods have failed to detect any strong correlation between the readout of genes, proteins and metabolites
Scientists quantified enzyme expression in 97 different strains of S cerevisiae, known to show differences in metabolism, linking it to changes in metabolite concentrations measured. They developed machine learning algorithms that could pick up complex relationships between changes in gene expression and metabolites produced. They found that metabolism was controlled by lots of enzymes acting in concert with no single enzyme having a major effect by itself.
To help patients with metabolic diseases the team is hoping to transfer their findings in yeast cells to the clinic in the next few years.
