In this week’s Medical Discovery News by UTMB’s David Niesel and Norbert Herzog: While we know for sure that the microbiome of bacteria living in and on us are key to our own well-being, more evidence suggests that we acquire our microbiomes before we’re even born. While a baby does acquire bacterial flora from its mother as it moves through the birth canal, scientists now think that our symbiotic, lifelong relationships with bacteria begin in utero long before birth. They found bacteria living in the placenta, an organ previously thought to be sterile.