But Columbia University Professor Ian Lipkin, of the Mailman School of Public Health's Centre for Infection and Immunity, a scientific adviser on Contagion, is not convinced that crowdsourcing is an effective way to combat the spread of contagious diseases.

BBC: Can crowdsourcing beat the flu?

Dr. Mikovits said it was still too early to know the reasons for the differing results in different labs, and that the Institute was looking forward to participating in a major study under way by the NIH and led by Columbia University scientist Ian Lipkin to help clarify the matter.

WSJ: Chronic-Fatigue Paper Called Into Question

Ian Lipkin, a Columbia researcher who was an author on the Science paper, says his bee work could provide "a road map for addressing outbreaks of infectious disease" like SARS. Metagenomics could also open a window on the invisible microbes, still undiscovered, that live in the earth, air and sea.

FORBES: Can Genomics Save The Bees?