The Rise of Yeast

Description

Yeast is humankind's favourite microbe, our partner in brewing, baking, and winemaking. Nicholas P. Money tells the story of this 10,000-year-long marriage, looking at how yeast served as a major factor in the development of civilization, celebrating its importance, and considering its future roles in molecular biology and genetic engineering.

• Tells the surprising story of the importance of yeast in the development of human civilization
• Discusses the role of yeast in beer brewing, winemaking, and baking
• Considers future uses of yeast with innovations in biotechnology and genetic engineering
• Describes yeasts that grow on the human body and in our guts and play vital roles in our health and wellbeing
• Explains how our future is linked to the success of biofuel development using yeast

About the Author(s)

Nicholas P. Money, Professor of Botany and Western Program Director at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio

Nicholas P. Money is Professor of Botany and Western Program Director at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is an expert on fungal growth and reproduction. Nicholas has authored a number of popular science books that celebrate the diversity of the fungi and other microorganisms including Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard: The Mysterious World of Mushrooms, Molds, and Mycologists (OUP, 2002), and The Amoeba in the Room: Lives of the Microbes (OUP, 2014).

Table of Contents

1:Introduction: Yeasty Basics
2:Yeast of Eden: Drink
3:The Dough Also Rises: Bread
4:Frankenyeast: Cells
5:The Little Yeast on the Prarie: Biotechnology
6:Yeasts of the Wild: Yeast Diversity
7:Yeasts of Wrath: Health and Disease
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Reviews

"A highly entertaining read ... a fascinating and lucid historical study, rich with biological intrigue." - Timothy James, Current Biology

"The Rise of Yeast: How the sugar fungus shaped civilisation is an amazing story, about an amazing people-non-person relationship (and by an amazing writer): Surely, Moneys The Rise of Yeast is destined to be a classic and a thoroughly deserving award-winner!" - Nigel Chaffey, Botany One, News and Views on Plant Biology and Ecology

"The Rise of Yeast is a neat little book that elegantly covers a lot of ground." - Leon Vlieger, Inquisitive Biologist

"Nicholas Money's effervescent tour is packed with delights, such as illustrations by Charles Tulasne, the Audubon of fungi, or the revelation that yeasts and humans share a common ancestor (and hundreds of genes)." - Barabra Kiser, Nature

"An enjoyable and readable account." - Brewer & Distiller International

"Yeast rises our bread, ferments our beer, wine, and spirits, perfumes our fruit, nourishes our bodies, makes us bold in love, foments chaos, powers our cars, and unlocks the soul. We humans tend to think that we rule the earth, but the evidence on our behalf is scant. This fascinating book unlocks the mysteries of our world's true masters, which were here before we walked, will be here when we're gone, and, in the meantime, help make our time on the planet a lot more fun and infinitely more delicious." - Garrett Oliver, Brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery, Editor-in-Chief, The Oxford Companion to Beer