Microbiomes for All

It is time to authenticate the Microbiome Sciences with accredited educational programs and departments

The Microbiome Sciences are at a crucial maturation stage. Scientists and educators should now view the Microbiome Sciences as a flourishing and autonomous discipline, creating degree programs and departments that are conducive to cohesive growth.

Communicating the Utility of the Microbiome and Bioinformatics to Small Flock Poultry Producers

The use of “omics” has become widespread across poultry production, from breeding to management to bird health to food safety and everywhere in between.  While the conventional poultry industry has become more exposed to the power and utility of “omic” technologies, smaller poultry flock producers typically do not have this same level of experience. Because smaller, nonconventional poultry production is a growing portion of the overall poultry market, it is important that they also have educational access to these research tools and the resultant data. While small flock producers are dedicated and knowledgeable farmers, their knowledge of these newer technologies may be limited at best, and it is the task of academic researchers to communicate the importance of these “omic” tools and how the omic data can improve a variety of different aspects of their operations. This review discusses ways to effectively communicate complex microbiota and microbial genome sequence data to small flock producers and transforming this data into meaningful and applicable information that they can utilize to inform beneficial management decisions.

Combating Antimicrobial Resistance Through Student-Driven Research and Environmental Surveillance

Emerging resistance to all classes of antimicrobials is one of the defining crises of the 21st century. Many advances in modern medicine, such as routine surgeries, are predicated on sustaining patients with antimicrobials during a period when their immune systems alone cannot clear infection. The development of new antimicrobials has not kept pace with the antimicrobial resistance (AR) threat. AR bacteria have been documented in various environments, such as drinking and surface water, food, sewage, and soil, yet surveillance and sampling has largely been from infected patients. The prevalence and diversity of AR bacteria in the environment, and the risks they pose to humans are not well understood. There is consensus that environmental surveillance is an important first step in forecasting and targeting efforts to prevent spread and transmission of AR microbes. However, efforts to date have been limited. The Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment (PARE) is a classroom-based project that engages students around the globe in systematic environmental AR surveillance with the goal of identifying areas where prevalence is high. The format of PARE, designed as short classroom research modules, lowers common barriers for institutional participation in course-based research. PARE brings real-world microbiology into the classroom by educating students about the pressing public health issue of AR, while empowering them to be partners in the solution. In turn, the PARE project provides impactful data to inform our understanding of the spread of AR in the environment through global real-time surveillance.