Animal Moms Customize Milk Depending on Baby's Sex
A special blend of mother's milk just for girls? New research shows animal moms are customizing their milk in surprising ways depending on whether they have a boy or a girl.
The studies raise questions for human babies, too — about how to choose the donor milk that's used for hospitalized preemies, or whether we should explore gender-specific infant formula.
"There's been this myth that mother's milk is pretty standard," said Harvard University evolutionary biologist Katie Hinde, whose research suggests that's far from true — in monkeys and cows, at least.
Instead, "the biological recipes for sons and daughters may be different," she told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Friday.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/animal-moms-customize-milk-depending-babys-sex-22525439
= new reply since forum marked as read
Katie is the author of the AAAS presentation discussed in the article referenced by the post.
Below is a video from the Harvard Thinks Big 4 event at Harvard University.
I found the presentation to be interesting, informative, and a little wacky.
Katie Hinde teaches several classes in the Human Evolutionary Biology Department (at Harvard) including The Neurobiology of Sociality and Building Babies: Developmental Trajectories from Conception to Weaning. She investigates how variation in the composition of mother's milk influences infant behavioral, biopsychological, and physical development. She also maintains "Mammals Suck... Milk!" a blog showcasing research on mother's milk, breastfeeding, and lactation that is accessible to the general public, clinicians, and researchers.
