A bacteria that can create calories out of thin air sounds like it’d be useful, if true.
The belief in bacteria causing obesity is so prevalent in the medical world, that you can’t donate fecal matter for a fecal transplant if you’re above a certain body fat percentage, because it’s believed bacteria obese people carry that caused them to become obese will make a thin person obese if the bacteria is transplanted to the thin person from the obese person.
Let me re-frame the question in terms you’ll find easier to understand:
The belief that fires need oxygen to burn is so prevalent in the forestry world; how come you don’t see massive forest fires in the desert where they’ve got the same amount of oxygen? A prevalent gas that can trigger combustion on demand sounds like it’d be useful, if true.