Metagenomics in Italy and Europe: three actionable challenges/prospects in 2020

Metagenomics has gained worldwide prominence as one of the indispensable omics technologies over the past several years in particular. Metagenomics applications in clinical medicine, ecology, planetary health and built environments are increasingly reported in the literature. Many countries are both striving and struggling to cultivate metagenomics scholarship as one of the drivers of life sciences innovation in early 21st century. Italy is no exception and has made important strides in metagenomics over the past decade. As we shift our gaze towards the new year 2020, we highlight what we consider to be three actionable emerging challenges in the field of metagenomics, specifically in Italy, that can transform to prospects for clinical, translational, ecological and/or discovery science innovation globally.