The research of the genetics of death in yeast, which is to last three years, will help in the treatment of tumors, project head Ivan Kresimir Svetec said last week.
The general aim of the project is to investigate the causes of aging and death in yeast, and answer a general question of why cells and organisms grow old and die, Svetec said.
The other laboratory project, to be led by the founder and head of MEDILS, French academician Miroslav Radman, is expected to attract most public interest because it concerns the bioinformatical analysis of the process of life and death of the Deinococcus radiodurans bacterium, which has the ability to return to life after it dies.
A team of scientists led by Radman last October impressed domestic and international scientific circles by discovering the mechanism whereby the bacterium rebuilds a unique DNA from fragments.
Due to exposure to extreme dehydration and radiation, the bacterium managed, through evolution, to rebuild a broken DNA into a new DNA series. This mechanism enables a clinically dead bacterium to return to life.
Presenting the discovery last year, Radman said that research into the bacterium would continue so that it could be established if the discovery can help in the treatment of human cells, which could lead to revolutionary discoveries and treatment of diseases that are incurable today.
Predicting the birth of a new branch - regenerative medicine, Radman said the bacterium could serve to "sow life" on distant planets. He added that some scientists maintained that life on Earth was born in a similar way given that this bacterium can survive a journey to the far reaches of space under extreme conditions.
The bacterium and its capabilities were discovered 50 years ago. It can withstand radiation 5,000 times stronger than those fatal for man.