Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Cultured soil microorganisms have provided a rich source of natural-product chemistry. Because only a tiny fraction of soil microbes from soil are readily cultured, soil might be the greatest untapped resource for novel chemistry. The concept of cloning the metagenome to access the collective genomes and the biosynthetic machinery of soil microflora is explored here.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Handelsman et al. (1998) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: