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The shape of the microbiome in early life

Nature Medicine volume 23, pages 274–275 (2017)Cite this article

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A recent study shows that microbial-community structure and function substantially expand and diversify in all body sites from birth to age 4–6 weeks. It then resembles microbiota from its corresponding maternal body site, independently of the infant's mode of delivery or other prenatal factors.

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Figure 1: The maternal influence on the development of an infant's microbiome in the first weeks of life.

Debbie Maizels/Springer Nature

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Erika von Mutius is in the Department of Asthma and Allergy, Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany.,

    Erika von Mutius

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  1. Erika von Mutius
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Correspondence to Erika von Mutius.

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von Mutius, E. The shape of the microbiome in early life. Nat Med 23, 274–275 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.4299

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