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We've been trained to think that bacteria and microbes are dangerous, disease-causing organisms we should fear. But there's actually plenty to like about them, and plenty of economic opportunity to explore.

Starting Tuesday at the IBM Almaden Research Center, scores of scientists and others will be gathering for a two-day symposium called "Sequence the City: Metagenomics in the Era of Big Data." The goal? To discuss the many ways that understanding the broad utility of bacteria and micro-organisms can help understand human health.

Part of a project known as the Almaden Institute, the work is part of a large effort to spread the study of "microbiomes" beyond medicine to other industries, including agriculture, food safety, counter-terrorism, forestry, forensics, retail, public utilities, and others.

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