Yeast as a biological platform for vitamin D production: A promising alternative to help reduce vitamin D deficiency in humans
Yeast doi:10.1002/yea.3708 PDF is behind a $12 paywall
Eduardo I Kessi-Pérez 1 2, Adens González 1, José Luis Palacios 1, Claudio Martínez 1 2
Vitamin D is an important human hormone, known primarily to be involved in the intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphate, but it is also involved in various non-skeletal processes (molecular, cellular, immune, and neuronal). One of the main health problems nowadays is the vitamin D deficiency of the human population due to lack of sun exposure, with estimates of one billion people worldwide with vitamin D deficiency, and the consequent need for clinical intervention (i.e., prescription of pharmacological vitamin D supplements). An alternative to reduce vitamin D deficiency is to produce good dietary sources of it, a scenario in which the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae seems to be a promising alternative. This review focuses on the potential use of yeast as a biological platform to produce vitamin D, summarizing both the biology aspects of vitamin D (synthesis, ecology and evolution, metabolism, and bioequivalence) and the work done to produce it in yeast (both for vitamin D2 and for vitamin D3 ), highlighting existing challenges and potential solutions.
There has been a concern that there is not enough production capability on the planet to make enough Vitamin D to fight COVID. Yeast might be able to increase Vitamin D production
Various gene modifications (GMO) of S-cerevisiase have made 7-DHC
Need to still use UVB to make the Vitamin D
Another GMO yeast may be able to semi-activate the Vitamin D to the form in the blood
UV irradiation of non GMO Yeast has made Vitamin D2