Dear Colleagues,

It has now been 50 years since the principle of targeted and repeated molecular copying of DNA in a test tube was first demonstrated (Kleppe et al. (1971) J Mol Biol 56(2):341-361), and the method was subsequently made practical in use by the thermostable DNA polymerases and named PCR by the Nobel laureate Kary Mullis. Around 15 years ago, the next-generation sequencing (NGS) machines entered the market. This was another technical revolution making the whole life-science environment see possibilities that were previously out of reach for most laboratories. Combining the massive parallel sequencing with the development of tagging different samples with different codes (Binladen et al. (2007) PLoS ONE 2(2):e197) it became possible to pool many samples in one sequencing run, and unforeseen powers came to the fingertips of life-science researchers. These methods are now in use for investigations in countless fields: identifying the complete microbiomes in humans (and many other species) and linking the microbiomes to different health and unhealth parameters; finding invasive species; pointing out that there are high numbers of unknown bacteria in many types of environments and devising methods to sequence their genomes without needing the microorganisms to be isolated and cultured; investigating which food items wild animals eat; showing that diverse species of flies are visiting different flowers; investigating the biodiversity in soil, sediments, or even in rocks far below the surface of the Earth; providing alternative methods for monitoring fish populations and migrations; and many other things. Terms like metagenomics, metabarcoding, eDNA, etc. are used for these approaches. In this Special Issue of the International Journal Molecular Sciences, we want to celebrate the advances these approaches have made in our knowledge in many areas, as well as the hopes and promises that they give for the future. We welcome contributions covering a wide range of fields, from basal research to applied research, from species-specific investigations (including humans) to environmental research and monitoring, from the microbiome’s influence on health of the host to stock assessment and a more sustainable exploitation of the Earth’s resources.

Prof. Dr. Svein-Ole Mikalsen
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• eDNA
• metagenomics
• metabarcoding
• microbiomes
• environment
• health
• environmental surveillance