{"673168":{"#nid":"673168","#data":{"type":"external_news","title":"Yeast Made to Harvest Light Hint at Evolution\u2019s Past","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe secret to the evolutionary success of organisms like plats, green algae, and cyanobacteria is light-harvesting proteins that harness energy from the sun. Long before photosynthetic proteins dominated the planet, another group of light-harvesting proteins made their debut: rhodopsins. Now, reporting in \u003Cem\u003ECurrent Biology\u003C\/em\u003E, a team of evolutionary and synthetic biologists reenacted this process by transferring a rhodopsin gene from one eukaryotic species to another to see whether it still functioned in its unfamiliar host, offering a glimpse into how rhodopsins found their way into eukaryotic evolutionary history. Study authors include biology Ph.D. student\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/autumn-peterson\u0022\u003EAutumn Peterson\u003C\/a\u003E, Research Scientist\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/anthony-burnetti\u0022\u003EAnthony Burnetti\u003C\/a\u003E, CMDI grant writer\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.gatech.edu\/cmdi\/faculty\/\u0022\u003ECarina Baskett\u003C\/a\u003E, and\u0026nbsp;Associate Professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/will-ratcliff\u0022\u003EWilliam Ratcliff\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe secret to the evolutionary success of organisms like plats, green algae, and cyanobacteria is light-harvesting proteins that harness energy from the sun. Long before photosynthetic proteins dominated the planet, another group of light-harvesting proteins made their debut: rhodopsins. Now, reporting in \u003Cem\u003ECurrent Biology\u003C\/em\u003E, a team of evolutionary and synthetic biologists reenacted this process by transferring a rhodopsin gene from one eukaryotic species to another to see whether it still functioned in its unfamiliar host, offering a glimpse into how rhodopsins found their way into eukaryotic evolutionary history. Study authors include biology Ph.D. student\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/autumn-peterson\u0022\u003EAutumn Peterson\u003C\/a\u003E, Research Scientist\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/anthony-burnetti\u0022\u003EAnthony Burnetti\u003C\/a\u003E, CMDI grant writer\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.gatech.edu\/cmdi\/faculty\/\u0022\u003ECarina Baskett\u003C\/a\u003E, and\u0026nbsp;Associate Professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/will-ratcliff\u0022\u003EWilliam Ratcliff\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"35575","created_gmt":"2024-02-26 18:57:44","changed_gmt":"2024-02-26 18:57:43","author":"adavidson38","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","publication":"The Scientist","field_article_url":"","publication_url":"https:\/\/www.the-scientist.com\/yeast-made-to-harvest-light-hint-at-evolution-s-past-71658","dateline":{"date":"2024-02-21T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2024-02-21T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"620089","name":"Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection (CMDI)"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"170334","name":"yeast"},{"id":"179779","name":"evolution genetics"},{"id":"2056","name":"biofuel"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}