Kookmin Univ. project wins gov't backing to engineer food-grade yeast

Kookmin University professor Park Yong-cheol and students in a biotechnology lab at the university, Monday / Courtesy of Kookmin University

Kookmin University said Tuesday that the Ministry of Science and ICT had selected a new synthetic biology project aimed at stabilizing future food supplies, backing research to engineer food-grade yeast for precision fermentation.

Professor Park Yong-cheol of the university’s department of integrative biotechnology was chosen for the 2026 Basic Research Program’s core research category, overseen by the ministry and supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea.

The project focuses on developing a genetic toolkit for Candida utilis, a food-grade yeast, and applying it to produce key food materials through precision fermentation.

The initiative aims to establish technologies for the stable domestic production of food ingredients such as proteins and amino acids, while addressing supply instability linked to climate change.

Park’s team plans to design modular genetic components to enable genome editing and strain improvement of the yeast, laying the groundwork for scalable and efficient production of food resources.

“The goal is to develop core technologies that can ensure a stable supply of food materials through precision fermentation,” Park said.

The Basic Research Program is designed to strengthen creative and challenging foundational research and foster leading scientists, with the core research track supporting high-potential individual projects.

Park’s research team has previously developed microbial synthetic biology and precision fermentation technologies capable of mass-producing biohealth materials, including human milk oligosaccharides, glutathione, agar-derived sugars and terpenes.

Building on this work, the team has expanded into biochemicals such as biodegradable plastics and plastic degradation technologies.

“This project will broaden the potential for developing and producing diverse food materials while contributing to the industrialization of synthetic biology,” Park said.