To catalog the rich diversity of microbial life, scientists from the Joint Genome Institute at the Energy Department have started a genomic encyclopedia of bacteria and archaea.  Funds from a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation grant to Jonathan Eisen—evolutionary biologist, open access advocate, professor at UC Davis and Academic Editor in Chief of PLoS Biology—helped support this innovative and collaborative research, published in the December 24 issue of Nature via open access. (See http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v462/n7276/full/nature08656.html.)

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“Scientists Start a Genomic Catalog of Earth’s Abundant Microbes,” Carl Zimmer. New York Times, December 28, 2009.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/science/29microbes.html