When I was a fellow with Allan Walker fifteen years ago, gut development was a topic of interest to a handful of researchers worldwide. A classic review by Grand, Watkins and Torti published in Gastroenterology in 1976, and Koldovsky's monograph Development of the Functions of the Small Intestine in Mammals and Man in 1969, brought together much of what was then known about the ontogeny of the human gut. Developmental biologists were beginning to recognise the opportunities offered by this rapidly differentiating organ to understand the interactions of genetic endowment and environmental influences in early life. The focus of much research was on the process of adaptation to milk feeding. With the survival of ever more …