SOIL is a good example of a microbiome, within which the interactions of micro-organisms should produce a healthy balance AN AREA of science that has rarely hit the headlines may hold the answers to some of the most pressing problems facing mankind. Microbiome is the collective term for micro-organisms found in a particular environment, whether that be the human body, a livestock animal, or around the roots of a crop plant. The interactions of these micro-organisms with their environment and each other can dictate whether that human body is healthy, that animal is harbouring a zoonotic disease, or that crop is productive.