Yeast evolution offers hope for cellulosic biofuel

Last month researchers at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and the University of Wisconsin announced a breakthrough that allows S. cerevisiae to metabolize xylose, a five-carbon sugar that it cannot normally ferment. They did this through a supervised, rapid process of evolution wherein yeast was given no choice of food other than xylose so that it evolved through mutations to be able to consume it.