Microorganisms are Earth’s oldest life forms and have come to inhabit virtually every location on the planet. Recent advances in technology have enabled researchers to dissect how microorganisms interact with their surroundings. These investigations reveal that microorganisms exist in complex communities commonly referred to as “the microbiome.”

These microbial communities have been found to be integral to many processes, including human and animal health, and environmental nutrient cycling. In light of our growing appreciation of the importance of the microbiome, ACS Publications is hosting a three-part webinar series focusing on it with sessions on:

• The Microbiome and the Environment
• Microbiome Technologies
• The Microbiome in Health and Disease

This second webinar in the series, Microbiome Technologies, will address the role of the microbiome as it pertains to technology. The extraordinary measurement and manipulation requirements of studying the microbiome open up great opportunities for chemists, nanoscientists, and other researchers. These broad needs include the ability to eavesdrop on chemical communications, conduct massive multimodal data science, and develop synthetic biology- and mass spectrometry-based tools to manipulate organisms and populations. This webinar will provide an overview of the function of microbiome technologies and discuss challenges and areas for investigation in microbiome technologies.

Key Learning Objectives:

• Describe the importance of microbiome technologies.
• Identify challenges associated with microbiome technologies.
• Explain how to study microbiome technologies using nanoscience, nanotechnology, and mass spectrometry.