{"id":46162,"date":"2025-06-24T21:06:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T15:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=46162"},"modified":"2025-06-24T21:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T15:36:58","slug":"yeast-multicellular-physics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/24-06-2025\/yeast-multicellular-physics","title":{"rendered":"Yeast Shows Physics can Give Rise to Multicellular Life Sans Mutations\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Science and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A new study on <strong>Snowflake yeast<\/strong> by National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) scientists offers an <strong>\u2018unconventional view\u2019 of how major changes first arise in the course of evolution.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is Yeast?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Yeast is a <strong>unicellular fungus.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Commonly used in:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Baking (makes bread rise).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Alcohol production (fermentation).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Scientific research (model organism).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reproduction by budding:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A small bud forms on the parent cell.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The nucleus divides, one part goes into the bud.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The bud grows and detaches, becoming a new yeast cell.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is Snowflake Yeast?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Regular yeast grows as single cells; new cells (buds) separate after formation.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Snowflake yeast has a<strong> genetic mutation that prevents buds from separating.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As a result, <strong>yeast cells stick together,<\/strong> forming a <strong>cluster like a snowflake.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>These clusters grow rapidly and become visible to the naked eye within 12 hours.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Significance in Science: <\/strong>Snowflake yeast is <strong>used to study how unicellular life evolved into multicellular organisms.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Normally, multicellular life needs<strong> special transport systems<\/strong> (like blood vessels) to move nutrients.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>But snowflake yeast<strong> lacks such biological systems,<\/strong> yet still grows exponentially.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Scientific Puzzle<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to current understanding, growth should stop once inner cells can\u2019t get nutrients.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However, snowflake yeast in the lab continued to grow beyond expected limits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Scientists wanted to<strong> understand how nutrients were still reaching all cells.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>New Discovery \u2013 Physical Process Behind Growth<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The study found that a simple physical process helps the yeast grow: <strong>fluid flow.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Growth was seen<strong> only in liquid (solution),<\/strong> not in jelly-like mediums.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>There are two types of movement in fluids:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Diffusion: <\/strong>nutrients spread from high to low concentration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Advection:<\/strong> whole fluid moves, carrying nutrients with it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Diffusion alone couldn\u2019t explain large growth (only up to 50 micrometers).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Scientists observed advection \u2014 fluid moved into the cluster from sides and exited from the top.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Snowflake yeast consumes sugar (glucose) and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This makes surrounding fluid less dense.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Less dense fluids rise, creating natural upward flow (like hot air rising).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This flow brings <strong>fresh nutrients into the cluster, keeping all cells alive.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Evolutionary Significance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Traditionally, multicellularity is thought to arise from gradual genetic mutations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This study shows that physics and chemistry alone could allow early multicellularity \u2014 before genetic changes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Later, genetic evolution could make multicellularity a permanent feature in life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/yeast-shows-physics-can-give-rise-to-multicellular-life-sans-mutations\/article69720372.ece#:~:text=A%20different%20view%20of%20evolution&amp;text=Contrary%20to%20the%20view%20with,genetic%20change%2C%E2%80%9D%20Nanjundiah%20said.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">A new study on Snowflake yeast by National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) scientists offers an \u2018unconventional view\u2019 of how major changes first arise in the course of evolution.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Scientific Puzzle<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">According to current understanding, growth should stop once inner cells can\u2019t get nutrients.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">However, snowflake yeast in the lab continued to grow beyond expected limits.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Scientists wanted to understand how nutrients were still reaching all cells.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/24-06-2025\/yeast-multicellular-physics\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46162"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46172,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46162\/revisions\/46172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}