Figure Legends
FIGURE 1 Current global political, economic, demographic,
environmental and technological future-shaping structural forces are
driving an extended period of significant uncertainty, insecurity and
instability in today’s unsettled world. Although this ‘permacrisis’ of
disharmony, fragmentation, disequilibrium, contestation and need for
continual adaptation brings daunting challenges at multiple fronts, it
too also might reveal great unexpected potential opportunities for
technological developments and breakthroughs that could advance
synthetic yeast research and human development over the next few
decades.
FIGURE 2 The convergence of synthetic biology technologies
(e.g. DNA reading, writing and editing) engineering, computational and
informational technology is revolutionising life sciences, including
yeast research. Transformative breakthroughs that have the potential to
shift frontiers in yeast research are likely to be catalyzed by the
age-old principle of consilience―scientific advances and evidence from
unrelated specialized fields is a powerful dynamo for the acceleration
of progress and solutions to grand challenges.
FIGURE 3 The fast-expanding repertoire of biodesign tools are
moving the barriers beyond the frontiers of yeast research. These novel
concepts include the construction of fully synthetic yeast genomes,
minimal genomes; supernumerary pan-genome neochromosomes; synthetic
metagenomes; and synthetic yeast communities, synthetic yeast biosensors
and even specialized synthetic yeast strains to augment the supply of
fermented food during long-range space travel. These concepts are at
varying stages of development with plenty of technological pitfalls to
overcome before such model synthetic model strains and systems would
illuminate some of the yeasts’ genetic blind spots and ill-understood
aspects of yeast resilience and fermentation performance.
FIGURE 4 The futuristic concept of building a fully synthetic
cell as a multipurpose platform is at a very early stage of development.
The ‘learning by building’ approach taken by yeast researchers is
central to the construction of a synthetic cell from scratch.
FIGURE 5 The ‘compass of responsible innovation’ guides
researchers involved in frontier science toward a process aimed at
creativity, opportunities and innovation for science that are socially
desirable and conducted in the wider public interest.