WIKIMEDIA, KEN HAMMOND, PD-USGOV-USDAWhether and for how long a baby is breastfed appears to affect the development of the infant’s gut microbiome, according to a study published in Cell Host & Microbe this week (May 13). Researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and their colleagues examined the composition of 98 babies’ microbiomes over time, identifying “more than 4,000 new microbial genomes” as part of this project, lead author Fredrik Bäckhed of Gothenburg told The Scientist.
The idea that “stopping breastfeeding—rather than introducing solids—drives maturation is a new idea, because we all thought so far that solids introduction was a key factor in changing the microbiota,” said microbiologist Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello of the New York University School of Medicine who was not involved in the work.
PNAS, E.A. FRANZOSA ET AL.Scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health and their colleagues were able to successfully identify Human Microbiome Project participants according to the composition of their gut microbiomes, they reported in PNAS this week (May 11).
“Each of us personally has a specific set of bugs that are an extension of us, just the same way that our own genome is a part of what defines us,” explained coauthor Curtis Huttenhower of Harvard.
Of course, being able to identify people in this way raises some ethical ...
