Infant formula revolution? Scientists modify tobacco-like plant to produce human breast milk nutrients

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have successfully genetically modified a plant closely related to tobacco to produce nutrients found in human breast milk. This breakthrough could revolutionise infant formula by providing a source of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs).

HMOs are essential components of breast milk known to promote healthy gut bacteria in infants and offer immune system benefits. Current infant formulas lack these HMOs or include only a limited variety, which limits their health benefits compared to breastfeeding.

Dr Patrick Shih, leading the research, spoke on the potential impact of the study, “Imagine being able to make all the human milk oligosaccharides in a single plant. Then you could just grind up that plant, extract all the oligosaccharides simultaneously and add that directly into infant formula. There would be a lot of challenges in implementation and commercialisation, but this is the big goal that we’re trying to move toward.”

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"While 75pc of infants are supplemented with or exclusively fed infant formula in the first 6 months of life, current infant formulas are either devoid of HMOs or only contain one to two of the ~200 HMOs found in human milk, limiting the health outcomes of formula-fed infants," as per the study. 

The study, published in Nature Food, involved reprogramming the plant's sugar-making machinery by inserting genes responsible for producing enzymes needed to create various HMOs.

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This resulted in the production of 11 different HMOs, including LNFP1, associated with reducing infections in infants.

According to Dr Shih, this approach not only holds promise for improving infant formula but also for enhancing the nutritional profile of non-dairy plant milks for adults.

The scalability and potential cost-effectiveness of plant-based production make it a promising alternative to current methods, which involve microbial fermentation and are limited in scope.

Dr Shih also stressed the broader implications of the study.

“This could enable not just improved plant-based milks for infants but also for many other facets of adult diet and health. Plants have already been engineered to produce oils and fatty acids that are better for our health. These are just a few of a growing list of ways we can start making designer plants that are tailored to improve human health.”