Some scientific results so far...
Extensive tests were performed to compare the quality of the top 10 commercial kits and methods for soil DNA extraction. Yield, purity and amplifiability of two genes were all examined using four soil types for each kit. Of all the kits, two are the clear winners!
Improvements in soil analysis procedures allow samples as close as 25 meters apart to be reliably differentiated.
Many methods and genes were compared to find the best fingerprinting tool: RISA (ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis), PCR of housekeeping genes (rpoB and rpoC), real-time PCR of 6 antibiotic resistance genes, 16S rRNA gene microarrays, 16S T-RFLP, 16S next generation sequencing (Roche 454, Illumina Miseq and IonTorrent PGM). RISA and TRFLP of 16S performed just as well as (if not better than) NGS!
A new bioinformatic tool is being developed for easy analysis of fingerprinting data (obtained from NGS, T-RFLP or RISA).