Scientists engineer tobacco-like plant to produce human breast milk nutrients

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have achieved a significant breakthrough by genetically modifying a plant related to tobacco to produce nutrients found in human breast milk. This advancement has the potential to transform infant formula by providing human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), which are crucial for promoting healthy gut bacteria and enhancing the immune system in infants.

Currently, infant formulas either lack HMOs or contain only a limited variety, making them less beneficial compared to breastfeeding. Dr. Patrick Shih, who leads the research, explained the potential impact of this discovery: “Imagine being able to produce all human milk oligosaccharides in a single plant. You could then grind up that plant, extract the oligosaccharides, and directly add them to infant formula. While there are challenges in implementation and commercialization, this is the ambitious goal we are striving to achieve.”

The study, published in Nature Food, noted that 75% of infants are supplemented with or exclusively fed infant formula in their first six months. These formulas typically lack HMOs or include only one or two of the approximately 200 HMOs present in human milk, limiting their health benefits for formula-fed infants.

The researchers reprogrammed the plant’s sugar-making machinery by inserting genes that produce enzymes necessary for creating various HMOs. This modification led to the production of 11 different HMOs, including LNFP1, which is linked to reducing infections in infants.

Dr. Shih emphasized that this approach not only promises to improve infant formula but also has potential applications for enhancing the nutritional value of non-dairy plant milks for adults. The scalability and potential cost-effectiveness of plant-based production offer a promising alternative to current methods, which involve microbial fermentation and are limited in their capabilities.

“This could lead to better plant-based milks not just for infants, but for many aspects of adult diet and health as well,” Dr. Shih noted. “Plants have already been engineered to produce oils and fatty acids that are healthier for us. This study is part of a growing list of ways we can create designer plants to improve human health.”