The microbiota is transmitted vertically, and in mammals, the primordial microbiota is transmitted in a matrilineal way, throughout generations. Labor initiates exposure to live microbes that colonize the baby body sites and play a role in development. Early microbiota perturbations are associated with increased risk of immune and metabolic disorders. Perturbations caused by modern practices will require new approaches in the restorative medicine of the future.

Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello joined Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology as a Henry Rutgers Professor of Microbiome and Health in 2018. She has published around 90 publications in the area of health and the microbiome and is a member of the American Academy of Microbiology, an IDSA fellow and has been member of seven journal editorial boards (currently of mBio and Nature Scientific Reports). She currently works on the ancestral and the early microbiome, impacts and restoration. Dominguez-Bello has a BSc in ecology, an MSc in animal nutrition and a PhD in microbiology.