A collaboration including researchers from Kobe University, University of Tokyo and Tohoku University has successfully identified and disrupted genes in the yeast Pichia pastoris in order to increase its secretory production of useful proteins. Through a series of processes that involved combining gene disruptions and then serially cultivating the resulting multiple disruption strains, they developed P. pastoris strains that can produce high yields of useful proteins. It is hoped that this discovery will lead to the development of techniques to improve protein production for biomedical antibodies and industrial enzymes, among other applications.