Inside the audacious mission to map every microbe in Australia

Cameron Spencer/Getty Photos

By Ruby Prosser Scully

Waves submerge the algae, forcing us to hop onto increased ground to preserve far from getting moist toes. For the following few months, the rocky seaside outcrop I am on in the Kamay Botany Bay National Park, Sydney, will most definitely be a lab for Kim Lema at the College of New South Wales, Australia.

She is discovering out a model of algae whose chemical substances entice sure microbes, forming a limited neighborhood on its surface that performs a vital characteristic in its health.

To call these microbes, Lema …