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Apply today for the HHMI BioInteractive Ambassador Academy! The Academy is a multi-year professional development experience designed to support evidence-based teaching practices. We’re looking for educators with diverse backgrounds and teaching contexts who are committed to centering equity in their classrooms.Maternal Microbiota Impacts Offspring Immune System
Topic
Resource Type
Description
This activity analyzes a published scientific figure from a study assessing if the microbiota from a mother affects the immune systems of the developing offspring.
In this study, scientists compared the offspring from two populations of pregnant mice. One population was kept germ-free throughout pregnancy, while the other was exposed to a strain of E. coli bacteria. The figure shows the offspring’s numbers of an innate immune cell, known as NKp46+ ILC3, after birth. Closed circles represent the offspring of mothers that were exposed to E. coli during pregnancy (“Gestational colonization”). Open circles represent the offspring of mothers that remained germ-free throughout pregnancy (“Control”).
The “Educator Materials” document includes a captioned figure, background information, graph interpretation, and discussion questions. The “Student Handout” includes a captioned figure and background information.
Student Learning Targets
- Analyze and interpret data from a scientific figure.
- Describe how maternal exposure to microbes can affect the immune system development of offspring.
Estimated Time
Key Terms
cytokine, error bar, gestation, immunology, innate lymphoid cell, line graph, microbiome, p value
Primary Literature
de Agüero, Mercedes G., Stephanie C. Ganal-Vonarburg, Tobias Fuhrer, Sandra Rupp, Yasuhiro Uchimura, Hai Li, Anna Steinert, et al. “The Maternal Microbiota Drives Early Postnatal Innate Immune Development.” Science 351, 6279 (2016): 1296–1302. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad2571.
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Terms of Use
Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.
Accessibility Level (WCAG compliance)
Version History
NGSS (2013)
HS-LS1-2; SEP2, SEP4, SEP5
AP Biology (2019)
IST-3.A; SP1, SP4
IB Biology (2016)
6.3, 11.1
Common Core (2010)
ELA.RST.9-12.7
Math.S-ID.3, Math.S-IC.1; MP2, MP5
Vision and Change (2009)
CC3; DP2, DP3