Society

'Human milk' to hit market in 2 years

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-15 10:59

BEIJING - Chinese consumers will soon be able to buy dairy products that are produced by genetically modified cattle and contain most of the nutrients as in human breast milk.

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture has given the green light to test production of the human-like milk, which will be available on the Chinese market in two years, said Li Ning, a leading researcher at the State Key Laboratories for AgroBiotechnology at China Agricultural University.

The milk, which cows produced after researchers tweaked their genetic codes, is rich in lactalbumin, lactoferrin, and lysozume - proteins that abound in human breast milk, said Li.

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"Such proteins can be easily absorbed by the human body and can boost the immune system, which is why breastfeeding is always better than using bovine milk and infant formula," noted Li.

Though not yet a perfect substitute for breast milk, as it lacks some antibodies and a protein that helps boost babies' intelligence, Li said that the "humanized" milk had great marketing and industrial potential.

"The milk pumped out by our cattle will be a cheap source for such rare proteins, which are precious components hailed by the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries," said Li, adding that the annual sales of lactoferrin are expected to reach 5 billion dollars worldwide.

Genetic engineering has been a rising technology studied by the pharmaceutical and biological industries. It is now widely used to mass-produce vaccines and drugs like insulin.

Food produced using genetic modification, however, has been met with less public and official recognition.

Similar concerns shadow the Chinese market, as consumers complain about a lack of available information about the potential hazards of transgenic foods.

"The word 'transgenic' sounds very unnatural to me," said Tan Xiafei, a customer in a Merry Mart supermarket in Beijing, after she picked up a bottle of soybean oil labeled as "coming from GM-free soybeans".

"I think the scientists are doing a good thing (by developing GM milk) as it may help mothers who are unable to breast feed, but I, myself, won't drink such milk just because it contains more nutrients," said Tan.

Li Ning said they have highlighted the safety issue in their work, and that no research yet indicates that transgenic food is detrimental to human health.

"Human history has seen a continuous manipulation of animal genes, from domesticated animals to hybrid rice, including the modern method of gene recombination, which is more effective and direct," said Li.

Li admitted that some unsuccessful trials ended with deformed embryos and cubs, but insisted that the milk came from healthy cattles that survived the process without deformities.

The modified milk earlier passed the safety tests of the Chinese Center for Disease Prevention and Control, which said the milk "proved more healthy than the conventional one".