Contents
Vol 8, Issue 343
Contents
Focus
- Measure for Measure: Biomarker standards and transparency
Biomarker tests for molecularly targeted therapies might be the key to unlocking the entry gate to precision medicine.
Research Articles
- Natural history of the infant gut microbiome and impact of antibiotic treatment on bacterial strain diversity and stability
A longitudinal strain-level analysis of the infant gut microbiome after repeated antibiotic treatments reveals decreased diversity and stability, as well as transient increases in antibiotic resistance genes.
- Antibiotics, birth mode, and diet shape microbiome maturation during early life
A longitudinal study of intestinal microbiota in children and their mothers shows that antibiotics, cesarean section, and infant formula alter patterns of microbial acquisition and succession during the first 2 years of childhood.
- Tissue-engineered autologous grafts for facial bone reconstruction
Anatomically shaped living bone formed in a portable bioreactor using autologous cells and bone matrix repaired the facial ramus-condyle unit in pigs.
Reports
- Clinical trial of blood-brain barrier disruption by pulsed ultrasound
An implantable ultrasound device safely disrupts the blood-brain barrier in glioblastoma patients.
Editors' Choice
- Imaging tumor pH-ysiology with smart contrast agents
Nanoparticle-based pH-sensitive contrast agents induce selective release of manganese ions to amplify MRI signals within hypoxic regions of tumors.
- Does a mother’s voice influence a child’s social communication abilities?
Brain circuits that underlie the recognition of a mother’s voice may serve as a substrate for social communication abilities in her child.
- Who knows best—your mother or her microbiome?
Obesity and excess weight gain in pregnancy may be driven by underlying alterations in the maternal microbiome.
- Pancreatic cells play switcheroo
Pancreatic exocrine cells are reprogrammed into insulin-producing cells following the delivery of a trio of transcription factor mRNAs.
About The Cover

ONLINE COVER Baby Steps for the Microbiome. Although the gut microbiome has been well studied in adults, less is known about its development in infants and young children. Two studies of more than 80 infants followed for the first 2 to 3 years of life now reveal the effects of birth mode, diet and antibiotic treatment on gut microbiome development (Yassour et al., Bokulich et al.) The investigators show that antibiotics, cesarean delivery and formula feeding can alter development of the infant microbiome, reduce bacterial diversity and transiently increase the presence of antibiotic resistance genes [CREDIT: LIOR FRIEDMAN/LESLIE GAFFNEY/BROAD INSTITUTE]