Faecalibacterium, Lachnospira, Veillonella, and Rothia. They’re impossible to pronounce, but these bacteria might be the key to reducing a child’s risk for asthma. If children acquire the four microorganisms before the third month of life asthma will not develop, Canadian scientists found. Their analysis of 319 children showed the kids were at higher risk of asthma if four types of bacteria were missing. The researchers, working at the University of British Columbia and the Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, compared the microbiome at three months and at one year with asthma risk at the age of three. Further studies showed that giving a bacterial cocktail to previously germ-free mice reduced inflammation in the airways of their pups. The finding further supports the hygiene hypothesis, suggesting that children who grow up in a much too sterile and clean environment don’t build a strong enough immune system.