During the Lifelines NEXT study, data is collected via questionnaires and biomaterials such as feces. Professor Sasha Zhernakova explains why this is important for the research: "In our intestines there is a huge amount of bacteria and viruses. We call this collection the microbiome, and it's there for a reason. It is thought that our microbiome plays a role in how healthy we are. However, how this works is not clear. Our research group is specifically interested in what role the microbiome plays in a baby's health."

The microbiome develops tremendously in the first few years of a child's life. From the third year, the microbiome is largely fully developed. In this research line, we are mapping out how this development takes place. We then try to link this information to the development of a child’s health. Questions we want to answer include: What composition of bacteria and viruses do we see in the first months and does something change when a child starts eating solid food? Is there a difference in microbiome composition between children who have been breastfed compared to those who are bottle-fed? Can a specific microbiome composition be linked to a disease?