Editing Genomics (section)

=== Metagenomics ===
[[File:Environmental shotgun sequencing.png|thumb|right|upright|Environmental Shotgun Sequencing (ESS) is a key technique in metagenomics. (A) Sampling from habitat; (B) filtering particles, typically by size; (C) Lysis and DNA extraction; (D) cloning and library construction; (E) sequencing the clones; (F) sequence assembly into contigs and scaffolds.]]

{{Main|Metagenomics}}
Metagenomics is the study of ''metagenomes'', [[genetics|genetic]] material recovered directly from [[Natural environment|environmental]] samples.  The broad field may also be referred to as environmental genomics, ecogenomics or community genomics. While traditional [[microbiology]] and microbial [[genome sequencing]] rely upon cultivated [[clone (genetics)|clonal]] [[microbiological culture|cultures]], early environmental gene sequencing cloned specific genes (often the [[16S ribosomal RNA|16S rRNA]] gene) to produce a [[microbial ecology|profile of diversity]] in a natural sample.  Such work revealed that the vast majority of [[biodiversity|microbial biodiversity]] had been missed by [[Microbiological culture|cultivation-based]] methods.<ref name = "Hugenholz_1998"/> Recent studies use "shotgun" [[chain termination method|Sanger sequencing]] or massively parallel [[pyrosequencing]] to get largely unbiased samples of all genes from all the members of the sampled communities.<ref name = "Eisen_2007"/> Because of its power to reveal the previously hidden diversity of microscopic life, metagenomics offers a powerful lens for viewing the microbial world that has the potential to revolutionize understanding of the entire living world.<ref name = "Marco_2010"/><ref name = "Marco_2011"/>