MICHAEL BAGDASARIAN: Microbial ecologists estimate that of all microorganisms present in our environment, not more than twenty percent of the species have been isolated and classified. This means that the other 80 percent is an array of completely unknown organisms.

Soil and water microorganisms exhibit a wealth of biochemical properties that are of considerable practical importance and of great scientific interest. These properties include the ability to use solar energy for conversion of carbon dioxide into complex organic substances, to degrade organic molecules including man-made toxic and recalcitrant compounds. (This ability has kept animal and plant life on earth through the developments of the industrial revolution and we hope will help us survive in the future.) Microbes are employed successfully in diverse industries ranging from food processing to mining. They are the source of fast increasing numbers of biological catalysts, including such enzymes that can act at boiling water temperatures or extremely acid or alkaline conditions.