Humanity depends on ecological services performed by bacteria, archaea, fungi, and protists, which recycle nutrients, nurture plant growth, purify water, make cheese and wine, and decompose wastes.  Microbes also play a key role in turning atmospheric carbon dioxide back into carbon to be stored in soils or the ocean depths (and doing likewise with nitrogen, sulfur, iron, manganese, and more). 

PHE investigates how current DNA technologies can be applied to answering questions ranging from: How should scientists define and measure changes in the diversity of microbial life and gain insight into its future evolutionary trajectory?  How can DNA technologies be better used for other types of socially significant investigation, such as authenticating works of art and historical manuscripts?  How can scientists better use DNA technologies as forensic tools for monitoring the spread of disease in the human environment? Current PHE projects concerning the Microbial Environment include:

Microbial diversity

Biology in Art

Sewage archives

About the icon – A microbial community on the surface of kelp. Each dot or filament is a bacterial cell and the different colors indicate different kinds of bacteria: Granulosicoccus (magenta), Planctomycetes and Verrucomicrobia (dark blue), Alphaproteobacteria (cyan), Bacteroidetes (yellow).  CREDIT: Tabita Ramirez-Puebla and Jessica Mark Welch, Marine Biological Laboratory.