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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

breastmilk

BIOMILQ Successfully Makes Human Milk Outside of the Breast

BIOMILQ announced today that it has successfully created human milk outside of the breast. Specifically, today’s announcement confirms that BIOMILQ’s product has the macronutrient profiles that match the types and proportions of proteins, complex carbohydrates, fatty acids and other bioactive lipids that are present in human breastmilk.

This is a big step for the startup, which, in February of last year had developed human casein and lactose, predominant components found in breastmilk. But developing components of milk and creating milk are two different things. Though BIOMILQ won’t say its product is bioidentical to human milk (there are too many factors based on an individual person biology to make such a claim), the company is proving out the macronutritional value of its products in recreating the functional value of human milk.

The science behind BIOMILQ’s product is complex, but at its core, the company cultivates mammary epithelial cells, and grows them in a way that allows them to produce milk. Once up and running, BIOMILQ says it can get from cells to shipped milk product in 6 – 8 weeks. Eventually, the company will take biopsies from a person to create customized human milk based specifically for that person’s baby.

In the press announcement, UC Davis Human Milk Researcher and BIOMILQ Technical Advisor Dr. Jennifer
Smilowitz said “BIOMILQ has shown it can create a product that contains a comprehensive suite of human milk proteins that not only function to nourish but also protect infants.”

The creation of human milk outside of the breast that is nutritionally equivalent to breastmilk is a potentially huge breakthrough for mothers and parents around the world. For those whom biological or societal reasons prevent them from breastfeeding regularly will be able to provide their babies with a product that is structurally and nutritionally similar to human breastmilk. TurtleTree Labs is another company developing cell-cultured milk.

Michelle Egger, Co-Founder and CEO of BIOMILQ told me by video chat last week that the company had initially budgeted two years to hit this milestone, but wound up achieving it in less than a year. “Part of the reason to share the news, is that the technology is real,” Egger said. Because the technology is real and ahead of schedule Egger said the company has more opportunities to work with researchers, regulators and parent communities to further study and develop this product before it comes to market.

Biomilq to Use Biopsies to Create Customized Cultured Breastmilk

One of the more intriguing applications for cell cultured food is human breastmilk. Breastfeeding doesn’t come easy for every mother for a variety of biological, societal and economic reasons, so the ability to give a child replicated human breastmilk rather than formula derived from cow’s milk could provide more optimal nutrition for growing babies.

One company working on cultured breastmilk is Biomilq, which earlier this year announced that it had successfully produced human casein and lactose, the predominant components found in breastmilk.

A story from The Guardian last week not only provided an in-depth primer on cultured breastmilk, but also talked about some of the specific technology that Biomilq is using. From that story:

Biomilq’s initial plan is as eye-catching as the product itself: they are going to produce customised breast milk for early adopters, grown from the customer’s own cells. “Moms would go through a fine needle biopsy procedure during their pregnancy,” Strickland explains. “That cell sample would be sent to us so we could start growing it up and producing milk. And then when she’s ready, we can start shipping it to her.”

This type of customization certainly sounds next-level in terms of cell cultured food. You aren’t just getting generic breastmilk from a lab, you’re getting specific breastmilk tailored to you for your baby.

While that is kind of mindblowing, as Biomilq admits to The Guardian, this customization will be very expensive at first. It also has the potential to reinforce inequalities where only those who can afford it will receive any potential advantages from this breakthrough technology. But Biomilq also points out this type of customized breastmilk is less a go-to market business model and more of a way to demonstrate the benefits of its product.

Wresting over ethical issues around cultured human breastmilk is not something we’ll have to deal with in the near term, however. Before we even get to the new set of ethical issues around cultured breastmilk, there are still many regulatory hurdles to overcome before it becomes something available for purchase.

BIOMILQ Raises $3.5M for its Cultured Human Breastmilk

BIOMILQ, which creates cultured human breastmilk in a lab, announced today that it has raised $3.5 million in funding. The round was led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures with participation from Shazi Visram, founder of Happy Family Brands and healthynest.

We’ve covered BIOMILQ before, writing about the company:

The startup was founded last year by Michelle Egger, a food scientist who previously worked in dairy R&D at General Mills, and Dr. Leila Strickland, a cell biologist who first conceptualized the technology in 2013 while breastfeeding her own daughter. The two met in the Research Triangle and created a patent-pending technology in which they trigger human mammary gland cells, kept alive by a constant stream of nutrients, to lactate. They then collect the resulting breastmilk.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, “Breast milk is uniquely suited to the human infant’s nutritional needs and is a live substance with unparalleled immunological and anti-inflammatory properties that protect against a host of illnesses and diseases for both mothers and children.1”

However, breastfeeding isn’t always possible for number of reasons including low milk production, medical challenges, or the ongoing stigmas attached to breastfeeding/pumping in public or work places. BIOMILQ hopes its cultured breastmilk can serve as a healthier and more environmentally friendly option to dairy-based formulas.

BIOMILQ isn’t the only company looking to recreate breastmilk in the lab. Over in Singapore, TurtleTree Labs uses mammary gland cells in a nutrient rich bath to lactate milk. BIOMILQ told The Spoon previously that its technology does not require the nutrient bath and is a “much cleaner technology.”

The company is still very early on and a concept as new as cultured human breastmilk will undoubtedly face scrutiny from regulators, so there is a lot of work yet to be done. BIOMILQ said it will use its new funding to work on production, hire out its team and engage with key stakeholders including families, pediatricians and the breastfeeding community.

Future Food: So… Lab-grown Breastmilk is a Thing Now

This is the web version of our weekly Future Food newsletter. Subscribe to get the most important news about alternate and plant-based foods directly in your inbox!

Here is a sentence I never thought that I would type: It looks like lab-grown breastmilk might be a thing.

I first heard of this technology back in December when I interviewed the team behind TurtleTree Labs, a Singaporean startup that uses lactating mammary gland cells to produce milk. They can use the cells of any animal, but the company is starting with human breastmilk because a) it has a higher price point and thus can enter the market more quickly, and b) nobody else is doing it.

Then yesterday I spoke with BIOMILQ, a U.S.-based startup doing basically the same thing. However, while TurtleTree will eventually use its tech to develop a suite of milks, BIOMILQ is focused exclusively on developing human breastmilk.

It’s strange how quickly you get used to an idea. Back when I first heard about TurtleTree, I wrote a Future Food newsletter asking whether or not the world is ready to accept the idea of human breastmilk grown in a lab. (Conclusion: Maybe not yet, but soon.) Now that more companies are entering the space, I’m no longer questioning if people will accept this new technology, but when we’ll be able to put it to the test.

That’s why it’s so exciting to cover this space. Eating a “bleeding” plant-based burger sounds offputting, then Impossible Foods gets on the menu at Burger King. The idea of growing milk from genetically modified microbes starts out sounding far-fetched, then a few months later you’re eating ice cream made by Perfect Day.

Growing breastmilk in a lab might have a slightly longer adjustment period, but given the increasing interest in other cultured foods like meat and dairy, I really think it will become normalized. Provided these companies can actually scale and reach their pricing goals (admittedly, a big “if”), the technology could also have a massive potential in lower-income parts of the world without access to consistent infant nutrition.

Kind of makes you wonder what will become a “thing” next, huh?

Photo: Impossible Foods

Impossible Food claps back against Big Beef ad
If you’re one of those people who only watch the Super Bowl for the ads (guilty), you might have seen a very pointed spot attacking alternative meat. The next day Impossible Foods released a parody of that ad on YouTube.

You can see the full commercials here, but I’ll summarize and say that both featured spelling bees with cute kids having to spell words that are unappetizing ingredients — one found in meat alternatives, the other in beef. P’s and Q’s aside, it’s interesting (though not altogether surprising) these types of attack ads are happening at all. We’re used to seeing them around politicians, but meat? Not so much.

Clearly Big Beef and its friends are nervous about the growth of meat alternatives and are trying to throw money at the problem. Meat lobbying groups are already fighting plant-based meat in the courtroom over labeling restrictions, with Tofurky stepping up as leader of the resistance. It seems like Impossible is ready to do the same in the advertising field.

But fighting groups with funds hefty enough to pay for an ad during the Super Bowl ad will be a tough battle — alternative meat companies better come prepared for the fight.

Protein ’round the web

  • Canadian startup Noblegen has unveiled its first product: a plant-based “egg” that can work in scrambles as well as in baking (h/t FoodNavigator).
  • Purple Carrot, the plant-based meal kit company, is now including products from meatless meat brands Lightlife and Field Roast in its pre-prepped kits.
  • Ripple is launching a line of ice creams made with its signature pea protein-derived Ripptein (via Vegnews).
  • Israeli cultured meat company Aleph Farms is launching an educational center to educate consumers on cell-based meat.

Not sure what to get your S.O. for Valentine’s? How about some plant-based bacon? Prime Roots will be doing a one-day presale of its fungi-based “bacon” on February 14 — you can pick some up here while supplies last.

Eat well,
Catherine