39th Annual Small Meeting on Yeast Transport and Energetics (SMYTE) conference
28 August–1 September 2024, University of York, UK
This is the first time the Annual Small Meeting on Yeast Transport and Energetics (affectionately known as SMYTE) conference had been held in the UK since it started in 1983. The 2024 conference was attended by scientists at all career stages from over the world and was sponsored by the Biochemical Society.
The scientific programme varied across many aspects of yeast transport processes and highlighted many exciting novel and unpublished data. An array of techniques and systems were highlighted across scales, from structural and molecular dissection of transporter function to in vivo physiological assays and large-scale evolutionary and clinical-based investigations.
What exciting new research was presented?
Studies on less conventional yeast, like Debaryomyces hansenii and Yarrowia lipolytica, were shown to have high potential for industrial biotechnology efforts. Regulation of transporters via mechanisms relating to membrane trafficking and cellular metabolism pathways were detailed. Also, a new addition to the SMYTE repertoire included a session on transport across membrane contact sites.
What were the key takeaways from the meeting?
Although some participants had attended many SMYTEs over the last four decades, this was the first for many. Indeed, this was the first conference for some early-career researchers (ECRs), with many presenting their work as posters and talks for the very first time. Although 20 of the selected oral presentations were made by principal investigators (PIs), ranging from senior to newly established labs, 15 talks were allocated to postdocs and students.
The funds from The Biochemical Society were used towards hosting a keynote lecture from Professor Frances Brodsky (University College London, UK), who discussed her extensive work in the field of clathrin-mediated endocytosis and how these pathways regulate the GLUT4 glucose transporter. The funding from The Biochemical Society was also used to provide five prizes for the best posters and seminars, each awarded to early career researchers.
I would like to personally thank The Biochemical Society for the generous support of this scientific conference.
