On Nov. 1, 2017, a study from the Earth Microbiome Project reported the most extensive snapshot ever of the vast microbial life on Earth. By drawing on more than 27,000 samples of soil, tissue, and water from the Arctic to Antarctica, more than 300 scientists at scores of institutions worldwide have created the first reference database of bacteria inhabiting the planet. The findings were published in the journal Nature.

The project was led by a trio of scientists including Janet Jansson of the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and colleagues at the University of California San Diego, the University of Chicago and DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory.