Food For Thought 
 
 Craft-Beer-Crazy Oregon Poised To Name Official State Microbe 
 
 A humble creature that has long toiled in obscurity for the benefit of humankind is poised to win a small measure of the distinction it deserves: designation as Oregon's official state microbe. 
 
 It looks to be the first microbe to gain official state recognition. 
 
 The microbe in question, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, plays a key role in the state's economy. Without it, sugar would not become alcohol, and Oregon would not have a craft beer industry worth $2.4 billion. 
 
 That's a lot of yeast. 
 
 The man behind the yeast's pending glamour moment is Mark Johnson, a Republican state legislator from Hood River, Ore. The idea, he says, came from a home-brewing constituent, who suggested that the Legislature — which has already designated a state nut (hazelnut) and a state fruit (pear) — do the right thing by another living embodiment of Oregon's contribution to quality foodstuffs. 
 
 "It seemed like a good thing to proclaim Saccharomyces cerevisiae the state microbe," Johnson told The Salt. 
 
 The microbe's name came trippingly off his tongue. How long did it take him to memorize it? The lawmaker laughs. "You know, I have to keep a cheat sheet in front of me with the phonetics written out." 
 
 But it turns out that Johnson has done his homework on Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its role in the Beaver State's enviable lifestyle. 
 
 "I'm an IPA guy," he proclaims. "The more hops I can have in a beer, the better." 
 
 He's in luck there. Johnson's district is home to Full Sail, makers of some nice, hoppy brews, as well as four or five smaller breweries started by former employees. 
 
 Oregon ranks third in the nation in the number of craft brewers, according to the Oregon Brewer's Guild, which says that Portland has more breweries than any other city in the world. 
 
 Not only that: Brewer's yeast is indispensable not just in brewing beer but in making bread, cheese, and craft distilled spirits, all popular Oregon items. "It's the bedrock of a lot of fun and enjoyable products," Johnson says. 
 
 When the vote came to committee this week, several fellow lawmakers worried that they might be unfairly favoring one microbe over another. 
 
 "Is there any other microbe that anybody else likes better than this one that is in competition with your microbe?" asked Rep. Vicki Berger of Salem, according to The Oregonian. 
 
 "I'm not aware of any other microbes that generate $2.4 billion for the state economy," Johnson responded. 
 
 The measure passed the House Rules Committee unanimously and is headed for a vote in the full Oregon House next week. 
 
 We at The Salt are longtime fans of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our resident bard, Adam Cole, sang the praises of this humblest of all beasts in a St. Patrick's Day tribute, which is definitely worth a view. 
 
 And Lydia Zuraw chronicled the way brewers strive to make those finicky beasties happy. Because when the Saccharomyces cerevisiae is happy, we're all happy. ||||| The real question, of course, is why up to now Oregon has never had a state microbe. 
 
 Even though it is, by definition, an oversight that's been pretty small. 
 
 The Oregonian's Christian Gaston reports that state Rep. Mark Johnson, R-Hood River, has introduced a bill to give Oregon the nation's first official state microbe , the crowd-pleasing Saccharomyces cerevisiae -- known to its fans as brewer's yeast. It provides, says Johnson, the molecular might behind a $2.4 billion Oregon craft brewing industry. 
 
 At that level, Saccharomyces cerevisiae deserves not only official state recognition, but probably its own political action committee: SAC PAC. 
 
 Or, flexing its consumer product muscles, SIX PAC. 
 
 Oregon already has, as we all know, a state insect, a state seashell and a state nut -- which is not who you think it is. But a microbe mandate would give Oregon an official presence in the exploding STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) world, with lots more possibilities. 
 
 With a Facebook data center in Prineville and a Google data center in The Dalles, it's clearly time for Oregon to lead the way with a state algorithm. There is a dynamic place available for a state enzyme. 
 
 And if we have a state microbe, we'll clearly need a state biochemical process. 
 
 Personally, I'm going for photosynthesis. 
 
 -- David Sarasohn 
 
 
 

– US states have official flags and official flowers, but Oregon could become the first to have a state microbe—and a delicious microbe, at that. Oregon's microbe of choice is the Saccharomyces cerevisiae, better known as ale yeast, and the bill's sponsor hopes the measure will show appreciation for the $2.4 billion that craft-brewing brings to Oregon each year, reports Popular Science. In fact, Portland purports to have more brew houses than any other city in the world, says NPR. So far the bill has passed Orgeon's House 58-0, and now it heads to the Senate. The Oregonian is already kicking around potential names for a microbial political action committee, with SAC PAC of SIX PAC making the cut. Wisconsin, incidentally, tried to get its own state microbe in 2010—the Lactococcus lactis, the bacterium used to make cheese and buttermilk—but the measure curdled in the state Senate.