A traditional fecal microbiology test requires collecting a rather large stool sample in a cumbersome process and immediately delivery to the laboratory or clinical practitioner. Specific organisms are cultured from the sample based on the physician’s requests, and processing requires interpretation by extensively trained laboratory personnel. This approach usually focuses on the discovery of culturable pathogens. In contrast, 16S rRNA gene sequencing requires only a fraction of the biological material needed for culture-based techniques (just a swab from toilet paper). In addition, the sample is collected in tube with a buffer that lyses microorganisms and stabilizes DNA, allowing the sample to be mailed at room temperature. Thus, sample collection and delivery are greatly simplified. Sequencing and interpretation can be automated to reduce human labor and error. Finally, this method can detect uncultivable organisms and relative abundances of both pathogenic and commensal organisms.