Cross-disciplinary innovations needed to advance functional understanding of Earth’s microbiomes. HTP, high throughput; STXM, scanning transmission X-ray microscopy; CMOS, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor; microCT, microcomputed tomography; TnSeq, transposon sequencing; NanoSIMS, nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry; NanoSIP, nanometer-scale stable isotope probing. Credits: The STXM image was adapted with permission from Remusat et al. (133), and the global ocean model depiction was adapted and reproduced with permission from Follows et al. (161).