Two decades of population genomics: will we ever agree on bacterial species?

We have never known more about the genetic variation that characterizes life on earth, which is stored in ever-growing databases, many of which are publicly accessible. Yet, an accessible database does not mean that information is readily usable or interpretable. Here, I consider how the last two decades of gene and genome sequencing have advanced our understanding specifically of pathogen variation and how the field might be revolutionized all over again — provided we are able to solve the challenges that have become evident as with the size of our databases.