This TED Talk features bioscientist Hanna Maria Usa Tupa, recorded live at TED at DuPont, 2019.

Now I know it might be easy to think that microbes are bad, especially for infants.

But research has in fact proven the opposite.

And the truth might be a little bit more complex, but it's actually way more interesting. It seems that we need microbes to be programmed

for good health. But not just any microbes, we need the right combination. We success best with the little microbial

bodies we have adapted to coexist with during evolution. And I guess it won't surprise you to learn

that we start acquiring that right combination right at birth. Well, at least some of us do. Babies born by C-section and

babies born vaginally aren't the same when it comes to microbial start to life. And after

birth, there are countless different early life events and circumstances that further

modulate the way the gut microbiota is developing,

such as the medications that might be prescribed for the infant or the mother, a number of pets and

siblings in the family, as well as level of hygiene at home. And in this case, it's actually

better if it's not that perfectly clean all the time.

And also nutrition, both mothers and infants. All of these events and circumstances

play a huge role in the gut microbiota development and that has a huge impact on the

lifelong health of that baby.

And I'm not talking about small health implications here. I'm talking about the big stuff.

Microbes we acquire or do not acquire affect our likelihood of developing diseases like

obesity, diabetes and even some cancers.

Since many of these early life events I just listed are such that we cannot affect them.

They are inevitable. For example, C-sections have been invented to save lives, and they do that

daily. And most medications are prescribed for a valid reason,

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