MADISON, Wis. -- The public is getting its chance to sound off on whether Wisconsin should name an official microbe.

A state Assembly committee scheduled a public hearing for Thursday on a bill that would name the microbe that converts milk into cheese as Wisconsin's official microbe.

Wisconsin would become the first state with an official microbe should the bill pass the Legislature and be signed into law by Gov. Jim Doyle.

The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Gary Hebl, D-Sun Prairie, said naming Lactococcus lactis the official state microbe would honor not only Wisconsin's cheese-making history but also increase publicity about how important microbes and the state's biotech industry is.