A total makeover

NIH needs a makeover.

This elegantly carved jade face from Liangzhu in southeastern China provides an intriguing glimpse into the beliefs of the people who lived there from 3400 B.C.E. to 2250 B.C.E. As described in a special News Focus section beginning on page 930, discoveries at Liangzhu and other regions far from the traditional heartland of Chinese civilization are revealing surprisingly complex ancient culture...

Getting Healthier Through Microbiome Makeover

In this issue of EBioMedicine, Liping Zhao and colleagues show that children with obesity have similar gut microbiota dysbiosis regardless of their geneticmakeup,whether it is simple obesity (no underlying pathology) or genetic obesity (Prader–Willi syndrome). Furthermore, their microbiome profile can be changed by a 1-month dietary intervention. Interestingly, the authors also show that transf...

Baltorussus Total Makeover: Rejuvenation and Sex Change in an Ancient Parasitoid Wasp Lineage

The Orussidae is a small and rare but phylogenetically important family of parasitoid wasps. The fossil record of the family is also very poor. Baltorussus velteni was described from Baltic amber from an allegedly female specimen. This and another recently discovered specimen are examined with microCT scanning and standard microscopy. We reveal that both the holotype and the new specimen are ac...

Chemical makeover inhibits IL-8

Chemical makeover inhibits IL-8 On page 2085, Proost et al. find that altering a single arginine turns an inflammatory chemokine docile. The chemokine IL-8, which activates and recruits neutrophils, is secreted as a mixture of isoforms that vary in length due to proteolysis. A cut after the first five amino end residues produces active protein, whereas cuts elsewhere inhibit activity. Proteolys...

Extreme makeover for Hartford's print shop.