This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The birth of a child involves many big transitions, but one of these changes occurs inside the child, who transitions from the sterile womb to an outside environment full of microbes. While this has lasting effects on growth, inflammation, and immunity, remarkably little is known about how gut bacteria and viruses are acquired by infants. Recently, researchers used next-generation sequencing to evaluate microbes from the guts of 28 pairs of twins and their mothers. They found that the majority of the infant’s gut bacteria were similar to their mother’s gut bacteria. Viruses were less similar, suggesting they might be transmitted through other routes. Twins also shared more of their gut microbiota with each other, emphasizing the strong effect of environmental exposure, and mode of delivery had very little effect on how much of the infants’ gut microbiome was inherited from their mothers..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain fetal development during the three trimesters of gestationDescribe labor and deliveryCompare the efficacy and duration of various types of contraceptionDiscuss causes of infertility and the therapeutic options available

Image-maker Alexander Tsiaras shares a powerful medical visualization, showing human development from conception to birth and beyond. (Some graphic images.)

This video segment from the Science and Technology Chat series focuses on dolphin pregnancy, birth, and care of the young, and features Atlantic bottlenose dolphins living in captivity at the Mirage Resort Dolphin Habitat.

Watching plants grow is like watching paint dry: It happens so slowly that the changes are imperceptible from one moment to the next -- and yet the end results are dramatic. This video segment shows just how amazing plant development can be by depicting various phases of the process using time-lapse photography. Footage from NOVA: "The Shape of Things."

This course draws on different disciplines, conceptual frameworks, and methodological approaches to examine gender in relation to health, including public health practice, epidemiologic research, health policy, and clinical application. It discusses a variety of health-related issues that illustrate global, international, domestic, and historical perspectives, while considering other social determinants of health as well, including social class and race.

This collection of six images captures the magnificence of human development -- the transformation from baby to woman.

Through scientific research, this video from The Human Spark illustrates how a child’s views of what is right and wrong can be shaped by others.

All animals develop and grow over time. The animals in this video segment, however, undergo very dramatic changes on their way to adulthood -- a developmental process known as metamorphosis.

This video segment adapted from NOVA reveals how junk DNA helped solve an evolutionary mystery: Why do certain species of fruit flies have wing spots while others don't?

Students discuss several human reproductive technologies available today pregnancy ultrasound, amniocentesis, in-vitro fertilization and labor anesthetics. They learn how each technology works, and that these are ways engineers have worked to improve the health of expecting mothers and babies.

Student teams learn about and devise technical presentations on four reproductive technology topics pregnancy ultrasound, amniocentesis, in-vitro fertilization or labor anesthetics. Each team acts as a panel of engineers asked to make a presentation to a group of students unfamiliar with the reproductive technology. Each group incorporates non-lecture elements into its presentation for greater effectiveness. As students learn about the technologies, by creating a presentation and listening to other groups' presentations, they also learn more about the valuable skill of technical communications.