mapping the microbiome of ... everything!

[Abizar Lakdawalla]

Earth microbiome project ... “The potential applications for this database and the types of research questions we can now ask are almost limitless,” Knight said. “Here’s just one example — we can now identify what kind of environment a sample came from in more than 90 percent of cases, just by knowing its microbiome, or the types and relative quantities of microbes living in it. That could be useful forensic information at a crime scene … think ‘CSI.’”

Luke R. Thompson et al. A communal catalogue reveals Earth’s multiscale microbial diversity. Nature, 2017; DOI: 10.1038/nature24621.