#3 BREWER’S YEAST – Saccharomyces cerevisiae
The next unsung hero is capable of making the planet’s most coveted fluids: beer and gasoline. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a type of single-celled fungi called a yeast. Originally isolated over 10,000 years ago, they possess two particularly endearing characteristics—their ability to ferment sugars to release alcohol, and a similarity to human cells because of their complex, or ‘eukaryotic,’ feature. As if this weren’t enough, yeast can be coaxed to produce a diverse array of useful molecules, including morphine, vaccines and insulin.
