Yeast — Rising to the Occasion
Fermented drinks like beer have been used for almost thousands of years, but the function of yeast in its making was not known until recently. The same applies to bread. The biblical word used for yeast is leaven . But what is it? Yeast is a they more than an it . Many bakers know that yeasts are microorganisms and that there are many different kinds. They make the bread dough rise and give it flavors, and are essential for fermented drinks. Bread Dough, Pexels / Vaibhav Jadhav Fermentation may seem like a bad word to people who avoid alcoholic drinks, but it is actually a process that occurs naturally in many places. There are wild yeasts and some have been tamed by savvy wranglers; baker's yeast is a combination of domesticated yeasts. (I'll allow that it sounds unusual to say that single-celled organisms can be domesticated.) Yeast cells act very much like human cells and are useful in studying genetics. Yeast (or at least its products) has been known and loved by human bei