Fermenting ideas at the interface of wine yeast biotechnology and synthetic genomics

Abstract Looking back over nearly five decades in yeast research, I often marvel, over a glass of wine, at how a single-celled organism like yeast has taken me on such a remarkable journey. We’ve travelled across four continents, using basic science and applied biotechnology, and into the heart of international collaborations that continue to redefine what is possible in biology. When I was growing up on a farm in rural South Africa, I never imagined that yeast would become both my lifelong research companion and my passport to the world of scientific discovery and innovation. Yeast taught me that impactful research should be directed toward increasing fundamental understanding in a context responsive to the applied needs of end-users, at both the level of problem selection and experimental design. Writing this Retrospective is therefore both an honour and an opportunity to reflect not only on the science and where it is leading but also on the people, places, and serendipitous moments that have shaped my career.