The New Science of Metagenomics
National Research Council / Division on Earth and Life Studies / Board on Life Sciences / Committee on Metagenomics: Challenges and Functional Applications
Although we can't usually see them, microbes are essential for every part of human life--indeed all life on Earth. The emerging field of metagenomics offers a new way of exploring the microbial world that will transform modern microbiology and lead to practical applications in medicine, agriculture, alternative energy, environmental remediation, and many others areas. Metagenomics allows researchers to look at the genomes of all of the microbe...