Now is the time to uncover the secrets of the Earth's microbiomes

(The Kavli Foundation) A group of scientists from 50 institutions recently called for an ambitious research effort -- the Unified Microbiome Initiative -- to understand and harness microbiomes, or communities of microorganisms. Now, in a far-ranging roundtable discussion, three of the paper's co-authors explain why this is the time to launch a major national effort to study the planet's least understood ecosystems.