The possibilities metagenomics offers are mind-boggling. This new science opens doors to a tremendous amount of scientific exploration and can help address some of the most complex medical, environmental, agricultural, and economic challenges of today's world.
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Human Health: Examining how the microbial communities that normally inhabit our bodies affect human health can lead to new strategies for diagnosing, treating, and possibly preventing diseases. Learn more...
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Environmental Remediation: Developing microbe-based tools for monitoring environmental damage and cleaning up oil spills, groundwater, sewage, nuclear waste, and other hazards may help restore healthy ecosystems. Learn more...
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Agriculture: Gaining a better understanding of the beneficial microbes living in, on, and around domestic plants and animals can contribute to improved methods for detecting diseases in crops, livestock, and food products and can facilitate the development of farming practices that take advantage of natural alliances among microbes, plants, and animals. Learn more...
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Renewable Energy: Harnessing the power of microbial communities may lead to more sustainable and environmentally friendly biologically-based energy sources. Learn more...
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Global Change: Exploring how microbial communities in the soil and in the ocean affect atmospheric balances and environmental conditions can help us understand, predict, and potentially address global changes. Learn more...
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Life Sciences: Deciphering how microbial communities function can partially answer fundamental questions about microbial, plant, and animal biology and greatly enhance our understanding of ecology and evolution.
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Biotechnology: Taking advantage of the diverse abilities of microbial communities may lead to the development of beneficial industrial, food, and health products.
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Biodefense and Microbial Forensics: Studying the DNA and biochemical fingerprints of microbial communities helps specialists monitor known and potential pathogens, create more effective vaccines and treatments against potential bioterror agents, and reconstruct events in which microbes have played a role.
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The information on this Web page was derived from the National Research Council report The New Science of Metagenomics: Revealing the Secrets of Our Microbial Planet (2007) and the 20-page educational booklet derived from that report, Understanding Our Microbial Planet: The New Science of Metagenomics.
PHOTO CREDIT: Image of oil spill courtesy NOAA HAZMAT.
Support for this web publication was provided by the Presidents' Circle Communication Initiative of the National Academies.
