The mission of the National Science Foundation is to advance fundamental science and engineering, research, and education.Microorganisms are the most abundant and diverse forms of life on Earth, but most of the microbial world remains to be discovered and explored.At the dawn of the twenty-first century, the growing availability of new technologies has made the full-scale exploration of microbial systems, from the genome to the biosphere, an attainable goal.The role of the NSF is to support research directed toward a fundamental understanding of microbes, to revolutionize understanding of the identity, properties, and interactions of microorganisms in the laboratory and in nature.The term "microbe" is defined to include bacteria, archaea, protists, micro algae, fungi, and viruses.
The Microbe Project is a project of the Office of Science & Technology Policy and the National Science & Technology Council, Committee On Science, Subcommittee on Biotechnology
