time. Coupled with the ability to centrally collect and analyze data is the technology advances in nucleic acid sequencing. In its infancy, nucleic acid sequencing was an intensive, manual process that yielded a few nucleotides a day. Modern next generation sequencing platforms can individually generate millions of nucleotides a day, with the associated costs dramatically reduced. The impact is a powerful insight into microbial populations inclusive of organisms that were undiscoverable by conventional microbiological techniques