An article published in the journal “Nature Communications” reports the first use of a technique called BONCAT+FACS to isolate the active microbes present in a soil sample. A team of scientists led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) adapted a technique developed to isolate proteins produced in cells to transform it into a tool that could identify single active microbes. This will help to understand in new details parts of ecosystems difficult to investigate, also obtaining information on large-scale cycles existing in the environment.