PHBRIEFS

Babies can't digest part of what's in breast milk - but it's still good. At the University of Illinois, Sharon Donovan examined molecules called HMOs, which are not food for babies but do feed beneficial bacteria in the gut. Donovan says these bacteria can protect against infection and strengthen the immune system. Human milk abounds in HMOs. Formula doesn't have them, so other sugars called prebiotics are added. Donovan compared HMOs with the formula version and found bacteria did better on HMOs. "We're just looking at one small aspect, but we know that breastfeeding and breast milk does a lot of other things for the infant."  The study in the Journal of Nutrition was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Stoney, Documentary Filmmaker, Mentor, Dies at 96
NYU film professor, documentarian, and pioneer of cable access George Stoney passed away last week. He was 96 years old. Among his 50 documentaries, All My Babies (1953) for the Georgia Department of Public Health included a live birth to educate black midwives working in rural poverty in the deeply segregated south. From his hometown obit:

“George Stoney was one of the pioneers of documentary film, bringing his early work and training as a journalist to enrich the genre,” said Jane Daugherty, a family friend who teaches journalism at the University of Miami. “As a friend, more importantly, he was an inspiration: dedicated to social justice and to making public television and his films tools of democracy. He was also an extraordinary teacher at NYU and Stanford and in the larger community of filmmakers. He will be missed.”

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