Your microbiome is passed down from your mother at birth.

A healthy microbiome is important to support a healthy mental state.

There are three redundant mechanisms to ensure proper transmission of microbes.

“Only mothers can think of the future — because they give birth to it in their children.” —Maxim Gorky

“Only mothers can think of the future — because they give birth to it in their children.” —Maxim Gorky

The gut-brain axis depends on a healthy set of microbes — the microbiome — to generate a positive mood, clarity of thought, and a strong memory. That’s a major reason why nature goes to shocking lengths to pass on a microbiome.

Some insects, for instance, have special cells called bacteriocytes: fat cells that contain an entire microbiome in miniature, preserving the microbial heritage of the host insect. These bacteriocytes position themselves near the eggs, and during birth, the bacteriocytes burst and spill their precious cargo. Thus anointed, the eggs absorb the bacteria and begin the cycle anew.

These bacteria go to work immediately to scrounge nitrogen from the environment, providing vitamins and nutrients to the newborn larva. That ability to thrive on detritus has made insects — and their attendant microbes — some of nature’s most successful collaborations.

Some 1.5 billion years ago, animals formed and immediately recruited microbes to fight off pathogens and digest fiber. Animals and bacteria have some genes in common, and over time both the host and the bacteria dropped the redundant genes to become more........

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