Breast milk is considered the best food for the physical and mental development of the newborn. Yet, despite being the most natural act in the world, breastfeeding can also be difficult. When breast milk isn't enough, or mothers need help, powdered milk usually makes up for it. At least until yesterday.
Nurit Argov-Argaman e Maggie Levi, doctors from the University of Jerusalem founded the company in 2018 after inventing cultured breast milk. A discovery that can revolutionize the eating habits of newborns, replacing powdered milk and providing children with the benefits of breast milk even if they cannot breastfeed.
How BiomilK cultured milk is made
The company, capable of synthesizing both human and cow's breast milk in the laboratory, "builds" cultured milk from the complex carbohydrates found in real human breast milk, the ones that also help give an early boost to the baby's immune system. children.
Lab-grown cow's milk, on the other hand, is produced from breast cells and mimics the composition of real cow's milk, without synthetic or plant-based additives. Not requiring antibiotics or hormones, the company says, it promises to be healthier too.
Lab-grown meats and alternative proteins (like edible insects) are garnering growing interest due to the idea that they are more humane and more environmentally friendly to produce. “Cultivated” breast milk, on the other hand, is still ready to go.
Only three companies in the world
Nathaniel Benchemhoun, vice president of business development at BioMilq, says that only three companies they produce cultured milk and “two of them are very young”. Today his is the only company that has reached all the stages that lead to the actual development of the product.
A few months ago I told you about another startup in the sector, with a very similar name. It is Biomilq, based in the United States. He is growing breast milk outside the human body. The third, called Turtle Tree Labs, is located in Singapore and creates laboratory-grown breast and cow's milk.
Our new technology facilitates the production of laboratory-grown breast milk using only the animal's own mammary cells, making milking unnecessary
Tomer Aizen, chief executive officer of BiomilK
The cultural road is long. Tomorrow, I'm pretty sure, milking a cow will be superfluous. And the powdered milk will be supplanted by the cultivated one. The mother's breast will have no rival for much longer, however.