Neat study! Why add the internal standard as gDNA rather than cells to account for extraction efficiency?

Cool idea. Do you have a sense of whether there are differences because of the variance in the number of raw sequence reads (even though samples are pooled at equimolar concentrations)? I see that samples are rarefied and that determination is based on the ratio of standard to total rather than the absolute value of the total, but I'm curious if you noticed any difference in outcomes if the sample...