Thaindian News

Melbourne, April 6 (ANI): It seems ‘human’ milk made from genetically modified cows has a cloudy future.

Chinese scientists had announced this week that they have genetically modified cows to produce milk that contains lysozyme, a protein found in human breast milk.

However, the scientific breakthrough seems to have met with limited enthusiasm, reports ABC Science.

New Zealand researcher Goetz Laible of AgResearch, who was involved with boosting nutrient levels in milk through transgenic cows, said the Chinese research builds on previous research in the US, which developed transgenic goats that produced milk with human lysozyme.

“I think it’s great that the step has been taken to go from goat as a model into cattle. It might form a new base for an improved infant formula,” he said.

But uncertain public support for the use of transgenic animals in food production means funding for such research has dried up, he added.

Breast milk experts are also dubious about this direction of research.

“This is an interesting scientific achievement but it really has little relevance to feeding babies,” said Prof Peter Hartmann of the University of Western Australia.

He said lysozyme was only one of 279 proteins in human milk that provide protection to babies.

Antibodies circulating in breastfeeding mother also protect babies, said Hartmann.

“Breastfeeding is not just pouring breast milk down the baby’s throat. It involves a very complex interaction between mother and infant,” he said.

“Claims of producing cows that secrete breast milk are naive to the extreme,” he said, adding lysozyme would be largely destroyed during pasteurisation of cow’s milk. (ANI)