Dolomite [CaMg(CO₃)₂] is abundant in sedimentary rocks throughout the geological record, but it is rarely found in modern sediments. With the recognition that sulfate and magnesium influence primary microbially mediated dolomite, a new geomicrobiological investigation of the Dolomite Problem combining the study of bacterial culture experiments with the study of stromatolites in the geological record is now being used to interpret evidence for the origin of microbes in the dolomite rock record. The sulfate inhibition model may only work in inorganic dolomite at higher temperatures or in the dolomite replacement reaction, but sulfate has not influenced primary dolomite precipitation in the same low-temperature culture experiments. Magnesium that influences primary microbially mediated dolomite may be involved with the limitation of the dolomite lattice on the spatial configuration of CO₃ groups at ambient low temperature conditions, though it was not originally thought that existing cation hydration prevents Mg²⁺ and CO₃²⁻ ions from forming ordered structures. The Dolomite Problem is still not solved, but most of the important organic exopolymers and substrate templates may help dolomite overcome any lattice limitations because of the distributions, arrangements and compositions of specific functional groups. Those methodologies, when applied to the study of dolomite formation, will hold a promising future for the ‘Dolomite Problem