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Gut bacteria are transmitted through milk, giving mothers a direct impact on the mix of bacteria their offspring harbor and a potential pathway to influence their infant’s health. A study of wild geladas provides the first evidence of clear and significant maternal effects on the gut microbiome both before and after weaning in a wild mammal.

ASU anthropologist Katie Hinde sees milk as more than food. It is also personalized medicine and a carrier of information that affects immunity, brain function and metabolism. Her study of global milk samples will enhance precision nourishment for the most fragile infants and children in neonatal and pediatric intensive-care units.

Dramatic research has shown that during pregnancy, cells of the fetus often migrate through the placenta, taking up residence in many areas of the mother’s body, where their influence may benefit or undermine maternal health. The presence of fetal cells in maternal tissue is known as fetal microchimerism.