For instance, breast-fed babies get a shot of maternal antibodies along with mother's milk.

NPR: Study: Breast-Feeding Decreases Cancer Risk

We wear our ancestor's heritage on our faces, in our souls, in our characters, through, you know, through environment, through mother's milk.

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In July, officials said a week-old giant panda cub died at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo after its mother's milk accidentally entered its airway.

CNN: Panda cub dies at Smithsonian's National Zoo

This is because it can be infected via its mother's milk.

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And there are 35m Hispanic-Americans who hail from countries where they take in football with their mother's milk, providing a reservoir of support for the sport.

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Ms Mennella's co-author Gary Beauchamp has carried out research which shows that breastfed babies learn about flavours because they are exposed to different flavours in their mother's milk.

BBC: NEWS | Health | First foods shape our taste buds

So entrenched are these concerns that even our early experiences of being fed may have involved ingesting our mother's anxiety about food along with her milk.

BBC: Interactive Essay: Transcript

The court heard how Pte James had been left in charge of Theo in a flat he shared with Theo's mother while she went to buy some milk on 24 August, 2009.

BBC: Soldier 'shook baby son to death' in Stourport flat