How freeloading yeast cheat the system
Thursday, May 2, 2013 - 13:31
in Biology & Nature
By Tanya Lewis LiveScienceCooperation is common in nature, but there will always be some who cheat the system. A new study on yeast shows that cheaters can persist in populations but put the entire group at greater risk for extinction.A colony of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) survives by breaking down sugar (sucrose) into simpler sugars. Freeloading yeast that survive by mooching off others can...