Fluorescent Yeast Genetic Engineering Kit

Engineer yeast - the organism behind bread, beer, and the world's first recombinant insulin - to produce glowing proteins. Your first step into eukaryotic genetic engineering.

Bacteria are a great starting point for genetic engineering. But yeast is where things get more interesting. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a eukaryote - its cells are organized more like human cells than bacterial cells are. That's why scientists used it to pioneer recombinant insulin in the 1980s, and why it's now central to research on aging, cancer biology, and next-generation therapeutics.

In this kit, you'll introduce a GFP plasmid into yeast using the lithium acetate transformation method, grow colonies on selective agar, and observe fluorescent expression under blue light. The techniques you practice here map directly to what happens in advanced eukaryotic and mammalian cell work.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Prepare yeast cells for transformation using the lithium acetate method
• Introduce a GFP expression plasmid into live yeast cells
• Plate on selective agar and grow transformed colonies
• Visualize fluorescence using the included blue light and UV filter

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• Why eukaryotic genetic engineering is more complex than bacterial work — and why that complexity matters
• Yeast transformation techniques used in academic and industrial labs
• How gene expression and protein production differ between eukaryotes and bacteria
• Why yeast is the workhorse organism for pharmaceutical production and aging research

PERFECT FOR
People who have done a bacteria kit and want to go further. Biotech students covering eukaryotic cell biology. Anyone curious about how organisms like yeast are engineered to produce useful compounds at industrial scale.

NOTES

• Some items require refrigeration and freezer storage upon arrival.

• Includes yeast transformation protocol, guide to yeast genetics, calibrated micropipette, and 14 petri plates.

WHAT'S INCLUDED:
Biological Materials

• Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strain  
  Preengineered strain of yeast containing GFP plasmid, freeze dried
  Yeast GFP expression plasmid (100ng/uL)

Media & Reagents

• YPD agar
  Selective YPD agar (G418)
  Transformation buffer (0% PEG 8000, 200mM LiAc, 0.1mg/mL salmon sperm DNA)
  YPD broth
  Sterile water

Lab Supplies

• Agar preparation bottle
  Adjustable micropipette (10–100 µL)
  Pipette tips (box of 96)
  5 Sterile inoculation tools
  14 Petri plates
  Tube rack
  Test tube for measuring 50 mL
  Microcentrifuge tubes
  10 Nitrile gloves
  UV filter film 
  Blue light

Documentation

• Yeast transformation protocol
  Guide to yeast genetics

Some items in this kit need to be stored in a fridge and a freezer upon you receiving them.

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