Beyond metagenomics, metatranscriptomics illuminates microbiome functionality in IBD

Although metagenomic sequencing has provided unprecedented characterization of the gut microbiome, it gives only indirect evidence of the genes and pathways that might be active. Now, investigators have combined longitudinal sampling with metatranscriptomics and metagenomics in IBD to provide a high-resolution picture of the microbiome's functional dynamics.