When the champagne corks pop at the beginning of the year, the Microbe of the Year 2022 is involved: Baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae produces wine – the basis of sparkling wine – and beer as well as cakes and bread. Yeasts are tiny single-celled organisms and count as microbes, even though – unlike bacteria – they have a cell nucleus (eukaryote). This similarity to humans makes them an ideal research object. As small „cell factories“, they produce medicines and raw materials on an industrial scale. This microorganism, important for our tasty delight and sustainable production, was chosen by the Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM) as Microbe of the Year 2022.