The key was hiding in breast milk: an enzyme explains how good bacteria get their first meals

A baby's gut is colonised in the first days of life by friendly bacteria called Bifidobacterium — and breast milk feeds them in ways formula cannot yet copy. Now Dr Lucy Crouch's team at the University of Birmingham has found a missing piece: an enzyme, PNGaseA, that some of these bacteria produce to unlock special sugars carried on short protein chains in human milk — nutrients that are not present in infant formula. Published in Nature Communications on 2 November, the work also produced the first-ever structure of such an enzyme holding its target, with co-author Professor Ramón Hurtado-Guerrero of the University of Zaragoza. 'We were genuinely surprised,' Crouch said. Knowing exactly which milk components healthy bacteria need is a step toward formulas and prebiotics that give every baby's microbiome its best start.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation