Brewing up science stories
Yeast strains, citizen science and climate change
When the Covid-19 pandemic put paid to a UK citizen science project exploring resistant yeast strains, the team tried out a different form of engagement. Mr Climate Change and the Beastly Yeast is a tale of climate change, fermenting biofuel and citizen science written by Naomi Wilkinson and illustrated by Sarah Routledge from the SuperYeast project team at Aston University, UK.
Wilkinson joined the SuperYeast team as part of a placement year, with plans to explore the tolerance of different yeast strains crowdsourced from brewers and bakers. ‘In the lab, I carried out a pilot study with yeast samples we obtained from York Beer Festival alongside supermarket supplied strains,’ she explains.
The team wants to make yeasts that can survive in high alcohol environments and thought that looking more closely at yeasts used in beer and bread production might provide some clues. And given the number of people trying their hand at sourdough starters or homebrewing during lockdown, what better time to crowdsource participants?