Yeast against aggregation

In drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases, the emphasis is on finding better models of neuronal systems that recapitulate synapses, neuroinflammation and the pathological accumulation of toxic aggregates. Yumanity Therapeutics LLC and a handful of academic labs are taking the counterintuitive strategy of searching for clues in yeast -- trading the organism’s lack of nervous system for its well-characterized genetics and ease of manipulation.

The idea is rooted in the fact that many cellular systems are highly conserved between yeast and humans, and the belief that the biology behind aggregate formation and its consequences will be faithfully represented in the lower organisms. ...