Fermentation lab

Fermentation facility equipment.

We grow the yeast and bacteria used by scientists at the Crick, for example as models for biological research or as systems for the production of proteins.

We have five state-of-the-art fermenters which we use to produce volumes of between 10 and 100 litres, under stringently controlled laboratory conditions.

We produce a variety of yeast species, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Pichia pastoris as well as E. coli bacteria. We have also grown the yeast species Schizosaccharomyces japonicus and the Caenorhabditis elegans nematode worm.

We have plans to produce Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the near future.

We run microbiological experiments where additional nutrients are fed to the yeast and the bacteria during their growth. We also run experiments where we make precise changes to the yeast and bacteria growth conditions, for example the temperature, the pH (acidity) or the oxygen levels.

Find out more about yeast