ABSTRACT
In this chapter, an analysis of the historical and theoretical foundations of metagenomics will serve as the basis for demonstrating how metagenomics acts as a bridge between the traditional genetic paradigm and a new one, still under construction. The chapter contextualises the reflections of researchers on the inside of the historical progression from the ‘century of the gene’ to the birth and development of postgenomics, illustrating how these two paradigms are not opposites but constitute two different evolutions of the cybernetic paradigm. The chapter ends with a reflection on how anthropology and metagenomics have very similar interests, regardless of the apparent differences at first glance.
