Saving baby animals with the milk lab

Soy milk? Almond milk? Whole fat, low fat, 2%, skim? It’s nice to have choices for your latte, but for baby mammals, it’s mother’s milk or nothing. Which begs the question: what happens when mom’s not around?

Milk—it’s the elixir of life, the one food all mammals need to survive. But not all milk is the same; every species has its own particular formula. At the National Zoo, one team of scientists is dedicated to studying all there is to know about this first, complex food. With samples spanning over 180 species, the lab is working on uncovering the many secrets of milk while also creating formulas for baby animals that cannot be naturally reared by their own mothers.

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