With current USDA rules on Salmonella in frozen and raw poultry products, the fight to combat microbial infection also is being waged on the hatchery level using research that ultimately could protect humans from some biological invasions. Dr. Margie Lee from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine is involved in groundbreaking research on how the chicken microbiome allows chicks to fight off Salmonella after they hatch in a concept called competitive exclusion. Dr. Lee offers insights into how these findings are advancing the cause against Salmonella and how a seminar on earthworms sparked the concepts that ultimately could better protect other species by monitoring microbiome conditions.