diff --git a/R/flatten.R b/R/flatten.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b640ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/flatten.R
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#' Bind rows in a list of list of data frames
+#' 
+#' This is a utility function that converts a list of lists, each containing
+#' a names list of data frames into a single flat list of data frames.
+#' @param x list; a list which contains a named list of data frames
+#' @return a flat list of data frames where lists of data frames with the same 
+#' name are merged.
+flatten <- function(x) {
+  is_named_list <- function(x) {
+    !is.null(names(x)) && all(names(x) != "")
+  }
+  #if (!is_named_list(x)) {
+  #  stop("'x' must be a named list.")
+  #}
+  if (any(!sapply(x, is_named_list))) {
+    stop("Each element of 'x' must be a named list.")
+  }
+  df_names <- lapply(x, names) |> unlist() |> unique()
+  out <- setNames(lapply(df_names, function(x) tibble::tibble()), df_names)
+  for (i in seq_along(out)) {
+    df_name <- names(out)[i]
+    for (j in seq_along(x)) {
+      if (df_name %in% names(x[[j]])) {
+        out[[i]] <- dplyr::bind_rows(
+          out[[i]],
+          x[[j]][[names(out)[i]]]
+        )
+      } else {
+        next()
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return(out)
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/R/ncbi_get_meta.R b/R/ncbi_get_meta.R
index 37e6f25..1bd716f 100644
--- a/R/ncbi_get_meta.R
+++ b/R/ncbi_get_meta.R
@@ -163,14 +163,7 @@ ncbi_get_meta <- function(
     if (verbose) {
       message("Attempting to parse retrieved metadata.")
     }
-    res_parsed <- ncbi_parse(meta = res, mc_cores = mc_cores, verbose = verbose)
-    if (all("data.frame" %in% class(res_parsed))) {
-      out <- dplyr::bind_rows(res_parsed)
-      if (verbose) message("Done.")
-    } else {
-      if (verbose) message("Returning unparsed metadata.")
-      out <- res
-    }
+    out <- ncbi_parse(meta = res, mc_cores = mc_cores, verbose = verbose)
   } else {
     out <- res
   }
diff --git a/R/ncbi_parse_biosample_xml.R b/R/ncbi_parse_biosample_xml.R
index c4e6b4e..a6ed16b 100644
--- a/R/ncbi_parse_biosample_xml.R
+++ b/R/ncbi_parse_biosample_xml.R
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ ncbi_parse_biosample_xml <- function(
   mc_cores <- get_mc_cores(mc_cores, verbose = verbose)
   biosample_df <- data.frame()
   if (verbose) message("Attempting to parse BioSample XMLs.")
+  result <- list()
   for (i in seq_along(biosample_xml)) {
     if (verbose) message(
       "BioSample XML ", i, " of ", length(biosample_xml),
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ ncbi_parse_biosample_xml <- function(
       attributes(x)$accession
     })
     if (verbose) message(
-      "List to data frame.. ", appendLF = FALSE
+      "List to a list of data frames.. ", appendLF = FALSE
     )
     pfoo <- function(x) {
       entry <- try(
@@ -85,16 +86,14 @@ ncbi_parse_biosample_xml <- function(
       out <- out[-index_failed]
     }
     if (verbose) message("Successful.")
-    out <- dplyr::bind_rows(out)
-    out <- dplyr::relocate(out, "biosample_uid")
-    out <- dplyr::relocate(out, "biosample", .after = "biosample_uid")
-    biosample_df <- dplyr::bind_rows(biosample_df, out)
+    result[[i]] <- webseq:::flatten(out)
   }
-  out <- tibble::as_tibble(biosample_df)
-  out <- out[, order(unname(sapply(out, function(x) sum(is.na(x)))))]
-  out <- dplyr::relocate(out, "biosample_uid")
-  out <- dplyr::relocate(out, "biosample", .after = "biosample_uid")
-  return(out)
+  result <- webseq:::flatten(result)
+  result$main <- result$main[, order(unname(sapply(result$main, function(x) sum(is.na(x)))))]
+  result$main <- result$main |>
+    dplyr::relocate(biosample_uid) |>
+    dplyr::relocate(biosample, .after = biosample_uid)
+  return(result)
 }
 
 
@@ -165,6 +164,25 @@ ncbi_parse_biosample_xml_entry <- function(x, verbose = getOption("verbose")) {
       ))
     }
   }
+  # if description contains a table, extract it
+  if (grepl("^WEBSEQ", out$description)) {
+    description_table <- extract_description_table(x, main_attrs$accession, verbose)
+    out_tbl <- dplyr::bind_cols(
+      tibble::tibble(
+        biosample_uid = main_attrs$id,
+        biosample = main_attrs$accession
+      ),
+      description_table
+    )
+    out <- list(
+      out,
+      out_tbl
+    )
+    out <- setNames(out, c("main", attributes(description_table)$caption))
+  } else {
+    out <- list(out)
+    out <- setNames(out, "main")
+  }
   return(out)
 }
 
@@ -399,6 +417,57 @@ extract_description <- function(
   return(out)
 }
 
+extract_description_table <- function(
+    x,
+    biosample,
+    verbose = getOption("verbose")
+  ) {
+  foo <- function (x, biosample, verbose) {
+    out <- data.frame()
+    if ("Comment" %in% names(x$Description)) {
+      if ("Table" %in% names(x$Description$Comment)) {
+        # works if there is a single table
+        # TODO find an example with multiple tables
+        table <- x$Description$Comment$Table
+        if ("Caption" %in% names(table)) {
+          caption <- unname(unlist(table$Caption))
+          if (length(caption) == 1) {
+            headers <- table$Header |> unlist() |> unname()
+            out <- lapply(table$Body, function(x) {
+              df <- x |> t() |> as.data.frame()
+              names(df) <- headers
+              return(df)
+            }) |> dplyr::bind_rows()
+            out <- lapply(out, function(x) unname(unlist(x)))
+            out_lens <- sapply(out, length)
+            index <- which(out_lens == 0)
+            if (length(index) > 0) {
+              for (i in index) {
+                out[[i]] <- rep(NA, times = max(out_lens))
+              }
+            }
+            out <- data.frame(out) |> tibble::as_tibble()
+            attr(out, "caption") <- tolower(caption)
+          } else {
+            stop("Multiple tables.")
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    return(out)
+  }
+  out <- try(foo(x, biosample, verbose), silent = TRUE)
+  if (inherits(out, "try-error") | is.null(out)) {
+    if (verbose) {
+      message(paste0(
+        "Could not extract Description table for BioSample ", biosample, "."
+      ))
+    }
+    stop()
+  }
+  return(out)
+}
+
 # test <- ncbi_get_uid("pathogen cl 1 0[filter]", "biosample")
 extract_package <- function(
     x,
diff --git a/man/flatten.Rd b/man/flatten.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4864fd3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/flatten.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/flatten.R
+\name{flatten}
+\alias{flatten}
+\title{Bind rows in a list of list of data frames}
+\usage{
+flatten(x)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{x}{list; a list which contains a named list of data frames}
+}
+\value{
+a flat list of data frames where lists of data frames with the same 
+name are merged.
+}
+\description{
+This is a utility function that converts a list of lists, each containing
+a names list of data frames into a single flat list of data frames.
+}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-ncbi_get_meta.R b/tests/testthat/test-ncbi_get_meta.R
index d436209..b460278 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-ncbi_get_meta.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-ncbi_get_meta.R
@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@ test_that("ncbi_get_meta() works with history", {
   # with history, use history, one batch
   uids <- ncbi_get_uid("Microthrix parvicella", db = "biosample")
   meta <- suppressWarnings(ncbi_get_meta(uids))
-  expect_s3_class(meta, c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame"))
+  testthat::expect_true(inherits(meta, "list"))
+  testthat::expect_s3_class(
+    meta$main, 
+    c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame")
+  )
   
   # with history, use history, multiple batches
   uids <- ncbi_get_uid(
@@ -13,8 +17,12 @@ test_that("ncbi_get_meta() works with history", {
     batch_size = 5
   )
   meta <- suppressWarnings(ncbi_get_meta(uids))
-  expect_s3_class(meta, c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame"))
-  expect_equal(nrow(meta), length(uids$uid))
+  testthat::expect_true(inherits(meta, "list"))
+  testthat::expect_s3_class(
+    meta$main, 
+    c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame")
+  )
+  testthat::expect_equal(nrow(meta$main), length(uids$uid))
 })
 
 test_that("ncbi_get_meta() works without history", {
@@ -25,14 +33,24 @@ test_that("ncbi_get_meta() works without history", {
     use_history = TRUE
   )
   meta <- suppressWarnings(ncbi_get_meta(uids, use_history = FALSE))
-  expect_s3_class(meta, c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame"))
+  testthat::expect_true(inherits(meta, "list"))
+  testthat::expect_s3_class(
+    meta$main, 
+    c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame")
+  )
+  
   # with history, do not use history, multiple batches
   meta <- suppressWarnings(ncbi_get_meta(
     uids,
     use_history = FALSE,
     batch_size = 5
   ))
-  expect_s3_class(meta, c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame"))
+  testthat::expect_true(inherits(meta, "list"))
+  testthat::expect_s3_class(
+    meta$main, 
+    c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame")
+  )
+  
   # without history, attempt to use history but fall back, one batch
   uids <- ncbi_get_uid(
     "Microthrix parvicella",
@@ -40,13 +58,21 @@ test_that("ncbi_get_meta() works without history", {
     use_history = FALSE
   )
   meta <- suppressWarnings(ncbi_get_meta(uids))
-  expect_s3_class(meta, c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame"))
+  testthat::expect_true(inherits(meta, "list"))
+  testthat::expect_s3_class(
+    meta$main, 
+    c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame")
+  )
   # only ids, one batch
   meta <- suppressWarnings(ncbi_get_meta(
     uids$uid,
     db = "biosample"
   ))
-  expect_s3_class(meta, c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame"))
+  testthat::expect_true(inherits(meta, "list"))
+  testthat::expect_s3_class(
+    meta$main, 
+    c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame")
+  )
   
   # only ids, multiple batches
   meta <- suppressWarnings(ncbi_get_meta(
@@ -54,7 +80,11 @@ test_that("ncbi_get_meta() works without history", {
     db = "biosample",
     batch_size = 5
   ))
-  expect_s3_class(meta, c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame"))
+  testthat::expect_true(inherits(meta, "list"))
+  testthat::expect_s3_class(
+    meta$main, 
+    c("ncbi_meta", "tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame")
+  )
 })
 
 test_that("ncbi_get_meta() works with all supported dbs", {
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-ncbi_parse.R b/tests/testthat/test-ncbi_parse.R
index f5d5e5c..e836945 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-ncbi_parse.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-ncbi_parse.R
@@ -4,15 +4,20 @@ test_that("ncbi_parse() works with a BioSample", {
   data(examples)
   biosample_uid <- ncbi_get_uid(examples$biosample[1], db = "biosample")
   res <- ncbi_get_meta(biosample_uid)
-  expect_s3_class(res, c("tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame"))
-  expect_equal(res$biosample, "SAMN02714232")
+  testthat::expect_true(inherits(res, "list"))
+  testthat::expect_s3_class(res$main, c("tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame"))
+  expect_equal(res$main$biosample, "SAMN02714232")
 })
 
 test_that("ncbi_parse() works with all BioSamples", {
   data(examples)
   biosample_uid <- ncbi_get_uid(examples$biosample, db = "biosample")
   res <- ncbi_get_meta(biosample_uid)
-  expect_s3_class(res, c("tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame"))
-  expect_equal(nrow(res), length(examples$biosample))
+  testthat::expect_true(inherits(res, "list"))
+  testthat::expect_equal(length(res), 2)
+  testthat::expect_equal(names(res), c("main", "antibiogram"))
+  testthat::expect_s3_class(res$main, c("tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame"))
+  testthat::expect_s3_class(res$antibiogram, c("tbl_df", "tbl", "data.frame"))
+  expect_equal(nrow(res$main), length(examples$biosample))
 })