Science Public Lecture Series: Why Mammals Suck

Please join us for a Science Research Lecture at Harvard University: 

“Why Mammals Suck” 

Katie Hinde

Assistant Professor, Human Evolutionary Biology 

Wednesday, October 16th @ 7:00pm

Harvard Science Center Hall C, One Oxford Street, Cambridge

ABSTRACT:

Milk is abundant at our local grocery store in the form of dairy products and infant formulas. This ubiquity of homogenized milk in our modern environment has the potential for the general public, and even researchers, to think of milk one dimensionally. Milk is not just food, however, but is also medicine and signal. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of other milk “bioactives” provide immunity and physiological regulation for the infant. Importantly, milk is not uniform across mothers or within a single mother across time. Maternal health, nutrition, culture, reproductive history, early-life conditions, and genes all contribute to differences in milk composition. Less understood are the consequences of that variation for infant development and fitness outcomes. Here I will present emerging research that addresses the magnitude, sources, and consequences of inter-individual variation of bioactive constituents in mother's milk. Fats, proteins, sugars, minerals, hormones, bacteria, and other constituents are highly variable and the "recipe" for milk can be different for sons and daughters. A better understanding of variation in milk composition, especially for milk constituents linked to infant cognition, neurodevelopment, behavior, and metabolism, enhances an evolutionary biological perspective of parent-offspring dynamics. Moreover, biological and social scientific research on this topic can be directly translated into more personalized clinical recommendations and health optimization for mothers and their infants. Identifying the composition and function of milk informs the manufacture of more representative infant formulas, the importance of institutional support, and the necessity for greater advocacy for mothers. 

Event is sponsored by Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of Science at Harvard University 

Please forward this invitation to anyone who may be interested in attending.

For more information contact: science_lectures@fas.harvard.edu