New research on mutation in yeast can enhance understanding of human diseases

Work from UNH Hubbard Center, Indiana University, others enhances understanding of genetics in human diseases
Yeast, a model organism heavily relied upon for studying basic biological processes as they relate to human health, mutates in a distinctly different pattern than other model organisms, a finding that brings researchers closer to understanding the role of evolutionary genetics in human diseases and cancer. The study, by researchers from the University of New Hampshire, Indiana University, Harvard University, and the University of Utah, appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) Online Early Edition this week (June 16 – 20, 2008).