Aiding and abetting: Are infants active agents in their own microbial development?

Humans and their intestinal microbes have forged a co-evolutionary relationship over many millennia, based on molecular exchanges that mediate largely beneficial outcomes for both microbe and human. We are only beginning to understand the importance of developing a rich and diverse, yet ecologically tailored and adaptive microbiome in early infancy. This talk expands these insights by exploring how human infants actively influence their own microbial colonization in early life, as well as the ways in which “modern” lifestyles may impede this long-term partnership. These perspectives should contribute an expanded host-microbe developmental ecology and a deeper understanding of the intergenerational transmission of human-associated microbes.