The following is a guest editorial by Paul S. Weiss, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Jeff F. Miller, professor of microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics, at the University of California, Los Angeles. Last month at the White House, the National Microbiome Initiative was announced. The objective of the initiative is to understand the complex interacting communities of organisms in and on us, as well as in the ground, ocean, air, plants, animals, and elsewhere. These interactions impact our health, agriculture, climate, and more. The announcement capped months of discussions and proposals from interested groups of scientists and engineers catalyzed by The Kavli Foundation (which had done the same to bring the BRAIN Initiative to fruition) and championed by leading microbiologist Jo Handelsman, associate director for science at the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy. This initiative will create tremendous opportunities for chemists and those in related disciplines.