Uncovered: 1,000 new microbial genomes

The number of microbes in a handful of soil exceeds the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy, but researchers know less about what's on Earth because they have only recently had the tools to deeply explore what is just underfoot. Now scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), a DOE Office of Science User Facility, have taken a decisive step forward in uncovering the planet's microbial diversity. In a paper published online June 12, 2017 in Nature Biotechnolo