Hi Eve,
According to the wiki, yeast has been used for baking bread for centuries... beginning with the Egyptians.
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that can't refer to bakers' yeast, only to remnants from the beer production - that is, wild yeast again, just as in sourdough. Of course there are other reasons to try sourdough: It's tastier, keeps the bread longer fresh, and there's even a health aspect. And it's much more fun if you ask me.
Oh, and have I mentioned that it's really, really
tastier?
Cheers!
Markus