Metagenomic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A branch of biological science dedicated to examining genetic information sourced directly from environmental specimens
2. An investigative method that analyzes collective genetic sequences from diverse microbial populations in their natural surroundings
3. Pertaining to the analysis of DNA extracted from environmental samples to explore microbial communities

Etymology: Metagenomic is a plain technical compound, and its history is short and clear. It combines "meta-", from Ancient Greek "metá", meaning "after," "beyond," or "among," with "genome," the word for the complete set of an organism's genetic material, and the adjective ending "-ic," which comes through Latin "-icus" and Old French "-ique." The result describes work that goes beyond a single organism's genome. The "meta-" part carries the sense of "beyond" or "encompassing," which fits the field's approach. Instead of sequencing one species grown in a lab, researchers take genetic material straight from soil, water, or other environmental samples and read the mixed genomes of everything present at once. Because the word is a modern scientific coinage built from classical parts, it was not used in ancient Greek or Latin. Its meaning is essentially the sum of its pieces: genomic study, extended to whole communities of organisms collected from the environment.