Why This Photo of Breast Milk in a Petri Dish Went Totally Viral

When it comes to feeding babies, moms have endless options. While formula is a great choice for many moms, there are a few benefits breast milk provides that formula can't, and one student's science experiment gives a bit of a glimpse into what those benefits are.

Biosciences student Vicky Greene highlighted one benefit of breast milk with her experiment involving breast milk and bacteria. In a photo of the experiment, which Greene shared to Facebook, she added milk samples to several Petri dishes, with some samples coming from the mom of a 15-month-old and others from the mom of a 3-year-old.

The Petri dishes also contain the bacteria M. Luteus, and the bacteria can be seen at the edges of each dish. The astonishing thing, however, is that there is absolutely no bacteria directly surrounding the spot of breast milk in the center of each dish, as the milk has killed off the bacteria.

"The white spots in the middle are discs soaked in two samples of breast milk," Greene explained in the caption. "See the clear bit around the discs — that's where the proteins in the milk have killed off the bacteria!" She added that she's also done the experiment with E. coli and MRSA and seen similar results.

Greene's experiment is photographic proof of the benefits of breast milk, not only for infants, but for toddlers as well.

"I'm so excited!" Greene wrote of her project. "The future is bright."

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