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31 August 2017

Milking It

Although milk production (lactation) is one of the defining features of mammals, such as mice and humans, we know relatively little about how milk is made. To find out what’s going on, researchers have developed a technique called intravital imaging to look inside living animal tissues. These strange green shapes, squirming under the microscope, are cells in a milk duct in the mammary gland of a live female mouse. The red blobs are fat droplets – one of the major components of milk. Following injection with oxytocin (a hormone that encourages lactation), fat droplets are released from cells in the ducts, with smaller droplets fusing together to create larger ones. Then they’re squeezed out of the duct by muscular contractions. This technique opens a window on the mysterious process of milk production, and could help to explain what happens when human mums struggle to produce enough milk to feed their babies.

Written by Kat Arney

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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