Newborn Baby's Gut Bacteria #1

Newborn baby's gut bacteria. Scanning electron micrograph from a culture of a four day old baby stool. Recent research has found that 30 percent of... more

by Steve Gschmeissner/science Photo Library

Title

Newborn Baby's Gut Bacteria #1

Artist

Steve Gschmeissner/science Photo Library

Medium

Photograph

Description

Newborn baby's gut bacteria. Scanning electron micrograph from a culture of a four day old baby stool. Recent research has found that 30 percent of babies' gut bacteria seem to come from the mother's breast milk and that another 10 percent can be traced to skin around the mother's nipple. Bacteria in infants' faeces were more similar to the microbes from their own mothers than those from other mothers in the study, suggesting that the bacteria are transferred from mother to child through breastfeeding. When babies started eating solid food a whole new range of bacteria are found, forming the gut microbiome that persisted into adulthood. Magnification: x 6500 when printed at 10 centimetres wide.

Uploaded

September 16th, 2018