This Collection was edited by:
Jacques Ravel, University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA
Florian Fricke, University of Hohenheim, Germany
EDITORIAL
Microbiome or no microbiome: are we looking at the prenatal environment through the right lens?
W. Florian Fricke & Jacques Ravel
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Batch effects account for the main findings of an in utero human intestinal bacterial colonization study
Marcus C. de Goffau, D. Stephen Charnock-Jones, Gordon C. S. Smith, Julian Parkhill
LETTER TO THE EDITOR – RESPONSE
Corroborating evidence refutes batch effect as explanation for fetal bacteria
Rackaityte E, Halkias J, Fukui EM, Mendoza VF, Hayzelden C, Crawford ED, Fujimura KE, Burt TD, Lynch SV
COMMENTARY
A philosophical perspective on the prenatal in utero microbiome debate
Jens Walter and Mathias W. Hornef
COMMENTARY
Group therapy on in utero colonization: Seeking Common Truths and a way forward
Rachel B. Silverstein and Indira U. Mysorekar
COMMENTARY – INTERVIEW
Lessons learned from the prenatal microbiome controversy
Martin J. Blaser, Suzanne Devkota, Kathy D. McCoy, David A. Relman, Moran Yassour, Vincent B. Young