Houston Business Journal, Dec. 9, 2006http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2006/12/04/daily52.html Breast-feeding protects children otherwise made susceptible to ear infections by abnormalities in specific human genes, scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have discovered. About 19 percent of children are prone to chronic and recurrent ear infections (known to physicians as "otitis media"). These infections can interfere with language development and lead to learning difficulties.  (This story has appeared widely in the United States and internationally.)