The review is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Institute of Molecul
ar Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, and summarizes the data on yeast
genetics obtained over 1958-1978 (in the Department of Radiobiology, Kurcha
tov Institute of Atomic Energy) and to the present day. The major lines of
research considered are radiation genetics, biotechnology, use of yeast mol
ecular genetic techniques in analyzing the human genome, and genetic stabil
ity of yeast cells.