 ecosystem science in the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) Division of Environmental Biology. "Metagenomics is a term that was known only to microbial ecologists until about 5 years ago, so I think we're still on the cusp of the big impact." He compares the field's current state to the early days of bioinformatics: In the 1980s, he says, bioinformatics skills were seen to be useful but "you couldn't point to all kinds of people getting jobs in bioinformatics. Today, people who are at the intersection of computer science and biology are very competitive in the job market."
Wooley is more bullish. Scientists with metagenomics skills, he says, are in demand in a wide range of settings: microbiology and bioinformatics departments; medical schools; the bioenergy, biotech, food, and agricultural industries; national labs (including Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley, and Oak Ridge); and major sequencing centers (DOE's Joint Genome Institute; the J. Craig Venter Institute; the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University; the Genome Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis; and the Baylor College of Medicine's Human Genome Sequencing Center).
The strongest candidates for those jobs, Wooley says, will know something about several aspects of their field, they'll know statistics and microbiology, and they'll be prepared to make a strong contribution in a specific area of inquiry, such as population evolution, protein diversity, species diversity, or understanding pathways and networks in microbes.
A sense of adventure
In addition, succeeding in metagenomic research requires a certain mindset. "You have to be able to stand back and observe the pattern and how all the pieces fit together," says Sharlene Weatherwax, director of the Department of Energy Office of Science's Biological Systems Science Division. That way of looking at science isn't for everyone, Weatherwax says. "Not everyone wants to do a jigsaw puzzle."
It also helps to be comfortable with not knowing, Knight says, because right now so little is known. "You have to see that as an exciting challenge rather than a discouraging limitation."
Funding and Training
- In addition to the trans-NIH Human Microbiome Project, several NIH institutes -- including the National Human Genome Research Institute, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research -- fund research on the human microbiome through their regular programs, mostly through unsolicited proposals. Program directors expect funding opportunities in the area will continue to grow.
- NSF doesn't have a metagenomics program specifically, "but that's because metagenomics is everywhere," says Kane, noting that NSF funds metagenomics research through all four divisions of its Directorate for Biological Sciences as well as through programs in its Engineering and Geosciences directorates and its Office of Polar Programs.
- The Department of Energy (DOE) Genomic Science Program supports metagenomic research through three Bioenergy Research Centers (whose overall focus is to spur basic research in the development of biofuels), as well as through individual research grants. (In addition to its grant programs, DOE's Joint Genome Institute, based in Walnut Creek, California, conducts metagenomic sequencing and analysis, as well as other microbiological work that is foundational to being able to perform metagenomic analyses.)
- A number of private foundations, such as the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, also support metagenomic research in a variety of areas, including marine ecosystems and the development of Crohn's disease.
Several institutions offer short courses that teach metagenomic techniques, often as part of a broader course of study:
- The University of Hawaii at Manoa's Center for Microbial Oceanography Summer Course
- The Univers