MICROBIOLOGY

Here at CEMI, we celebrate the fact that microbial inventions have profoundly shaped every aspect of the Earth. Many important molecular and cellular processes in eukaryotes first arose in bacteria and archaea, and microbial metabolic activities control numerous geochemical cycles. Microorganisms serve as model systems in many areas of science, ranging from basic biology and biochemistry, to the study of physical principles governing biological systems, to the exploration of robustness, stability, and design in complex networks. Interactions among microbes within communities, as well as interactions between microbial communities and their environments, are poorly understood. Yet studying these interactions is key to identifying fundamental relationships in nature, such as: 1) the feedback loops connecting microbial activities in aquatic or terrestrial habitats with changes in composition of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere, and 2) the symbiotic associations that sustain..