New Technique Allows Scientists To Penetrate Yeast Cells' Hard Exterior

If you want to know how a cell responds to a particular chemical, the experiment is simple: Inject it with that chemical. Micropipettes -- tiny needles that can puncture a cell and deliver a compound directly into it -- are used precisely for this purpose. But biologists who study yeast have not had this tool available to them. A yeast cell's rigid outer wall is too strong to be penetrated.