Breast milk of a cow? Not so fast...

Scientists have developed cows to milk, which is enhanced with a human protein. This gives the milk more health-enhancing powers. The milk has potential, prevention and treatment of cases of diarrhoea, to kill each year millions of children.

With the help of human genes, cows can now provide advanced milk with health-giving properties, which are similar to those of the breast milk.

The development is an incremental step forward in a long-term goal transgenic milk with nutraceutical, powers, said an expert in the field. The new study brings scientists still finding a step closer, a safe and simple way, milk, that fight debilitating diarrhea in millions of children in the developing world could make.

Finally the research could help disease, irritable bowel syndrome and other stomach problems people with Crohn's.

And while some headlines the discovery as a way to mother's milk from the udder of dairy cows have been this kind of transgenic milk is still far more cow-like than humanoid. It contains beneficial enzymes, much like the milk producing human mother only a boosted level.

"The cows cow's milk make, human protein, containing a", a geneticist in the animal science at the University of California, Davis, said James Murray, who did a similar job with a goats but was affiliated with the new study. "To say that it is more like human milk it a little stretch." I think this is misleading. "It is simply in the fears of people who are opposed to it."

Breast milk is known to have a number of advantageous qualities for babies. It helps to develop their stomach intestinal tracts and to tyres. It helps in the development of a favourable population of bacteria in their guts. And it raises the levels of anti-inflammatory molecules in their bodies, so that they better able to resist infections.

Connect a countless number of nutrients and other components to make breast milk for babies as healthy. But scientists decades ago zeroed on two enzymes. Lysozyme and lactoferrin called, both contribute the anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory powers of breast milk. And both are far more abundant in breast milk in the milk of other animals.

There are, for example, 3000 times more lysozyme in breast milk as in cow's milk. Levels are 1,600 times higher in breast milk as in goat's milk.

20 Years ago researchers to isolate the gene, was able to make these enzymes. Then they started, the genes in ruminants, produce with the aim of getting the animals, enzyme-enhanced milk.

Among other advances, scientists have already developed cows, secrete the extra lactoferrin in their milk. And Davis group developed transgenic goats, the 270 times more lysozyme in their milk than normal. His team has also its transgenic goat milk on - equivalent in age to human children in the Vorschulalter--young pigs fed and improved stomach-intestinal health this documented.

For the new study, Li Ning, China Agricultural University in Beijing and colleagues standard genetic cloning techniques used. She started with easy to acquire human genes that regulate both lysozyme and its expression. They put cow these genes in cells, and she created embryos containing these genes in their mammary glands.

The study found 17 healthy adult bovine animals, which separately reported 25 times more lysozyme in their milk than normal cows, the researchers in the journal PLoS one.

"After our know this is the first study, which resulted in the production of a herd of cloned transgener bovine animals, expressed" the lysozyme gene in their milk, the researchers wrote. "It is satisfied the design of humanization of the cow's milk."

Five million children contract debilitating diarrhea all over the world every year Murray said, and half of those dying of dehydration and related problems. Aligned with their gut may be transgenic milk in able to save many of these children. And cows offer a promising factory because they produce large quantities of milk.

The milk would be probably safe, added Murray. Even with its elevated enzyme, far less lysozyme as we eat in our saliva contains two glasses of even the most advanced transgenic milk every day.

Before the milk ever make it will hit the market, but need to research with clinical studies in animals and humans, the security and its ability to heal, to prove the good. At the moment, Professor of medicine and bio-Ethikerin said at the research has a long way to go Steven miles, the University of Minnesota, twin cities.

"This is very much a more or less technology," miles said. "Breast milk contains a huge number of proteins, the are positive." "Select a particular protein-the lysozyme as any kind of substitute milk for human milk would be in this case justify a rather reckless thing to do."

While transgenic technologies hold much promise, he added, there are also risks that must be taken into account. And in this case he thinks milk, that nature has still a leg out on genetic engineering, to.

"they are not human milk produced, they are a product of the human milk, inferior is produced" miles said.

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