Bio-ethanol is a leading alternative to fossil fuels due to environmental and economical reasons. To reach bio-ethanol goals, it is essential to develop efficient strategies to use various lignocellulosic substrates for ethanol production (e.g. agricultural and industrial waste products). The pretreatment process used to generate fermentable sugars from lignocellulosic biomass also generates growth inhibitors, such as furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. Thus a robust strain tolerant to these inhibitors is needed. Previously, the stress protective gene, ZWF1, has been shown to improve tolerance to furfural when overexpressed. Moreover, furfural treatment induces the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that cause cellular damage to membrane structures, chromatin, and the actin cytoskeleton. To test whether ZWF1 is linked to this cellular damage, we examined furfural-induced cellular damage using either cells lacking ZWF1 or cells overexpressing ZWF1. In the present study we demonstrate that ZWF1 overexpression in yeast prevents the accumulation of ROS and the damage to membrane structures, chromatin, and the actin cytoskeleton.