Breast milk has been described as the ideal meal for babies for centuries. However, not all parents have the luxury of providing these for their babies. From surrogate mothers to mothers struggling with low breast milk production, the realities for mothers vary and ultimately make it difficult to provide breast milk even when desired.
According to the World Health Organization, only 1 in 3 babies receive the same amount of expert recommended amount of milk needed in the first 6 months of life. Hence, many result to cow milk (formula) instead.
The co-founder of BIOMILQ a North Carolina-based startup, knows this problem so well as she struggled to provide breast milk for her baby. She explained that the idea first came to her after learning about a lab-grown burger. She wondered if the innovation can be applied to human milk as well.
According to the company “BIOMILQ’s product, by comparison, better matches the nutritional profile of breast milk than formula, with more similar proportions of proteins, carbohydrates and fats”.
The product is created by collecting cell samples from human and allowed to grow in bioreactors in a laboratory, simulating the environment in the human body.
The company is projecting having the product on the market in 3 years.