Yeast is sunlight-shy. It's generally recommended to store yeast in a cool, dry place such as the refrigerator to maintain its quality, given that it’s a living organism, and excessive heat or direct sunlight can negatively impact its viability.
In hotter climates, think Sicily in July, the shelf life of yeast can be significantly reduced. So, researchers from Georgia Tech’s School of Biological Sciences have crafted yeast strains that seem to thrive when nature's spotlight is on.
“We were frankly shocked by how simple it was to turn the yeast into phototrophs (organisms that can harness and use energy from light),” said Anthony Burnetti, a research scientist working in Associate Professor William Ratcliff’s laboratory and corresponding author of the study.
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