The maternal microbiota drives early postnatal innate immune development

Mom's bugs shape of spring immunity In utero, babies are relatively microbe-free but are quickly colonized at birth. These early microbial residents help to shape our immune systems. Gomez de Agüero et al. wondered whether the maternal microbiome also affects the of springs' immune system during gestation. To do this, they transiently colonized otherwise microbe-free pregnant mice. Compared to those born to microbe-free moms, pups born to colonized moms had increased numbers of certain innate immune cells and different patterns of gene expression in their guts. Science , this issue p. 1296