Metagenomics

dels.nas.edu/dels/rpt_briefs/metagenomics_final.pdf
dels.nas.edu/metagenomics/

"Metagenomics provides a new lens for viewing the microbial world that has the potential to revolutionize understanding of the entire living world. In metagenomics, the power of genomic analysis is applied to entire communities of microbes, bypassing the need to isolate and culture individual microbial species. This new approach will bring to light the many abilities of the microbial communities that drive Earth’s energy and nutrient cycles and support the health of its inhabitants. Metagenomics will vastly enhance our knowl-edge of microbial communities and can lead to major advancements in many areas, includ-ing human health, agriculture, energy production, and environmental remediation."

unculturable - nothing grows on the plate, why? one reason could be that it lacks nutrients, what better way to find this? observe the organism in its natural environment -- see 1911 paper of Twort and G. Ingram [Proc. Roy. Soc.LXXXIV, pp. 517-542], Mycobacterium pseudotuberculosis which needed a form of Vit K obtained from dead cells of Mycobacterium phlei

lots of potential in this field, ranging from harvesting energy (Dr. Stephen Larter: Canada Research Chair in Petroleum Geology; microbes to convert athabasca oil sands back to good methane http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athabasca_Oil_Sands), global climate change (eg oxygen minimal water zone, Dr. Steven Hallam UBC MBB), microbes in mouth and gut -> antibiotics Dr. Fergus Shanahan: Director, Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre and the BioSciences Institute
--topics covered from Genomics Forum 2009
http://www.genomebc.ca/whatnew_press/upcoming_events/2009/genomics_forum_apr09.htm