Scientists and engineers are teaming up to answer fundamental questions about the microbiome – the billions of microorganisms that live on and in us, our homes, our food, and our planet. The need for interdisciplinary research, new tools, and common standards to foster groundbreaking discoveries about microbiomes is essential to make progress in understanding and, eventually, managing microbiomes in all ecosystems. Meeting these needs will require funding for basic and applied research that spans diverse areas, as well as the implementation of systematic mechanisms to provide opportunities for cross-fertilization of ideas, and for collaborations for solving experimental challenges and answering complex questions.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is therefore issuing a national call to action for new public and private commitments to support microbiome science. Examples of potential commitments include:

• Interdisciplinary centers that support projects tackling fundamental, cross-cutting questions and themes related to microbiome science.
• The development of platform technologies, reference libraries, and databases useful for microbiome research in all habitats.
• Grants, fellowships, internships, and cluster hires that promote interdisciplinary microbiome work among faculty and students.

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