Microbial Insights, Inc.

05/12/2026

Question: Wonder what to do with all those extra drill cuttings when you install a new well?

Answer: Be sure to store some for future studies. You can never get back that baseline timepoint! It’s low cost to store and very high benefit down the road if needed. Reach out to your local labs to get their storage recommendations. For Microbial Insights, be sure to utilize our extract and hold option to preserve your DNA for future use. Reach out to info@microbe.com for pricing and more information.

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day from Microbial Insights! MI recognizes the crucial role that mothers play in raising the next generation of scientists – instilling a love of the environment and STEM subjects, encouraging and supporting academic achievements, and often modeling careers in STEM themselves. This Mother’s Day, and all days, we are grateful for the women who raised us, for our colleagues who are mothers, and for those who are bringing up the future of the industry.

05/07/2026

Remediating mixed-contaminant plumes can be complicated, but attending this session is a no-brainer! With talks by Mengyan Li, Laurie LaPat-Polasko, Praveen Srivastav, Francisco Barajas Rodriguez, and Courtney Toth, MI’s own Vice President of Applied Innovation Dr. Sam Rosolina and Geosyntec Consultants’ Principal Scientist Michaye McMaster are disentangling the challenges of the industry’s most complex sites in this session – Advances in Biological Treatment of Mixed Contaminant Plumes. We hope to see you there!

05/05/2026

When you’ve got microbial questions, we’ve got Microbial Insights. Our expert scientists are tackling client-submitted questions in our video series, Ask a Scientist. So far, we’ve covered:

🛢️What’s left to learn about petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation?
🔄️What bioremediation challenges do mixed contaminant plumes present?
🦠How do I measure the presence and activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria at my site?
📈What tools can be used to understand TPH degradation and natural source zone depletion?

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with all the latest Ask a Scientist videos, and submit your own questions to our team by reaching out to info@microbe.com!

05/01/2026

May we have your attention please? ...See what we did there? The May 2026 page of MI’s Dad Jokes calendar is available on our website now and at the link 🔗 in the comments below!

04/30/2026

Turn data into decisions with Microbial Insights as your go-to lab for Whole Genome Sequencing. With our new-and-improved data processing pipeline, WGS (also called metagenomics or shotgun sequencing) lets you dive deeper into taxonomic and functional data with greater resolution and confidence. MI WGS reports include:

📖Database references citing a dozen sources
🧬Profiles for bacteria, archaea, and fungi
👷Functional gene annotations and sample-to-sample comparisons
📊Statistical analyses including PCoA plots and hierarchical clustering dendrograms

This tool brings unprecedented data power to your most complex projects. Add WGS to your toolbox and reach out to our team today at info@microbe.com!

04/28/2026

Are petroleum degrading microbes really everywhere? Or is that just an assumption we’ve been making for years?

We put the question to the test with real gene frequency detection data, not myth or theory.

📊 The results may surprise you.

👉 Watch the first installment of our Ask a Scientist video series to see what the data actually show.

01/15/2026

Microbes are everywhere and their impact spans far beyond what we can see. These tiny organisms drive nutrient cycling, support soil and plant health, influence environmental cleanup, and play major roles in energy and industrial systems.

Across industries like remediation, oil and gas, mining, and agriculture, microbial activity can either solve problems or create them. Understanding which are present and what they are doing is the key to unlocking solutions.

Microbial Insights provides molecular tools that deliver clear, actionable microbial data so practitioners can harness microbial processes, address challenges, and improve performance across complex environments:

New to Microbes and how they can help you? This article provides insight into their use for a myriad of projects and industries.

01/08/2026

Interpreting microbial data starts with understanding the units. CENSUS qPCR and QuantArray results are reported based on sample type, such as cells per milliliter for water, cells per gram for soils, or cells per bead for Bio Trap samplers. While these units cannot be directly converted, they often fall within one to two orders of magnitude of each other.

To understand whether a result is low, medium, or high, percentile rankings from the Microbial Insights Database provide valuable context by comparing your data to more than 250,000 field samples collected over more than 30 years.

For additional reading on interpreting microbial data:

Learn how Microbial Insights reports microbial results by matrix, adapting reporting units based on sample type to provide accurate data for environmental analysis.

01/01/2026

Aging pipelines, rising corrosion risks, and costly unplanned downtime continue to challenge midstream oil and gas operations. As infrastructure ages, the threat of failure grows, making proactive monitoring and reliable data more important than ever.

Corrosion, including microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC), plays a major role in performance loss and asset degradation. Even a small amount of unplanned downtime can cost operators millions each year, disrupt operations, and increase environmental and safety risks.

Microbial Insights supports midstream operators with precise molecular microbiological methods that identify and quantify MIC related microorganisms, helping teams take action earlier and maintain asset integrity. From QuantArray MIC for routine monitoring to NGS for full community profiling, our MMMs give operators the data they need to manage corrosion with confidence.

For additional reading on strengthening midstream operations:

Learn how microbial diagnostics & maintenance solutions can address aging infrastructure, corrosion & unplanned downtime in the midstream oil & gas sector.

12/25/2025

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Microbial Insights want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our clients, partners, and community. Your trust and collaboration drive our innovation and commitment to advancing microbial solutions. Wishing you a joyful holiday season and a prosperous New Year filled with success and meaningful opportunities.