Barcode technology in yeast: Application to pharmacogenomics

The common baker's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is one of the oldest domesticated organisms known, and has been exploited by our ancestors in several different applications, particularly in food and fermentations industries and in bioconversion and biodegradation processes. Over the years, yeast has become an excellent experimental model for biological and medical studies, thanks to its genetic tractability, well-known physiology and fast-doubling cycle. In the last decade, the advances in genome sequencing opened the doors to high-throughput studies and yeast quickly has become a model system for drug discovery and mode of action. This review provides a focused overview of the achievements in the field of human medicine and pharmacology by exploiting the molecular tools available for yeast. © 2010 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.