Bioengineering Beer Foam

Reporting in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Tom?s G. Villa and colleagues devised a recipe for improving beer foam. They identified a gene in brewer's yeast that prolongs beer foam lifespan by making a protein that protects the bubbles. They say they've brewed beers with heads that stay frothy for several hours.

Copyright ? 2012 National Public Radio. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

FLORA LICHTMAN, HOST:

And one last salute to science before the weekend. Here are some news you can raise the glass to. Microbiologist Tomas Villa and colleagues report that they may be able to bioengineer better beer foam. That's right.

TOMAS G. VILLA: Beer foam. Foam is what you like the most in a beer. And a beer drinker wants foam to stay longer, right?

LICHTMAN: Of course. And the secret to long-lasting froth, proteins, produced by barley and yeast during fermentation.

VILLA: The hydroforming portion of the protein sticks inside the bubble and the hydrophilic bubbles of protein sticks out of the bubble.

LICHTMAN: The protein coat stabilizes the bubble, leading to a longer lifespan. Villa and colleagues identified the gene in a lager yeast strain that codes for this protein. And they say they can insert it into other brewer's yeast, producing beer with foamy heads that can last for hours. Cheers.

You can learn more about Dr. Tomas Gonzales Villa's research on our website, along with everything else on our website, including a video tour of Dr. Oliver Sacks' desk. I don't think you want to miss that.

Copyright ? 2012 National Public Radio. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2012/11/09/164797151/bioengineering-beer-foam?ft=1&f=1007

food network