MY purpose in pasting that patent of what biotechs say about milk banks was to show their FAULTY logic about milk banks. I would think that most breastfeeding advocates would recognize the safety of the human milk banking system. The reason there are so many patents at the US Patent Office on Human Milk is the recognition by the biotechnologists that human milk is powerful medicine. They are using human milk components for a wide variety of medicines, including medicines for diagnosed hiv-positive persons. What is at work here is the way American business works, "destroy the competition." Breastfeeding is the competition. Therefore discrediting the milk banking system, implying it unsafe keeps people relying on formula. You all wonder why there isn't a bigger milk banking system and its because there is no way the pharmaceutical companies (most formula companies are part and parcel of the drug industry) will let that happen. The inventor of that patent, Dr. Gerald Gaull, deceased, was at one time a VP of Searle (which is part of Monsanto). He is the "inventor" of the patent for taurine that was put into formula back in the 80's. He was noted in the 70's for his experiments on aborted fetuses. He also was mentioned in the aspartame (a Searle product) controversy. Noted for threatening another scientist who was against the use of aspartame. So what he wrote in this patent, in my opinion, is very suspect. Hiv/AIDS or mad cow disease is not a death sentence. The fact of birth/life means that we will die. So a disease is not a death sentence. Birth ultimately means we must die, and I believe that no human ultimately has a clue of that time-table (including the medical community) and what will ultimately kill us. Knowledge of people who are living healthy despite being diagnosed hiv-positive is not being made public. Instead what is encouraged by the media is hysteria and the discouragement of rational discussions to the problem. Much of the funding for research and studies are backed by pharmaceutical companies who have the most to gain by discouraging breastfeeding. These very same companies hold patents on human milk, trying to imitate its components. Human milk banking is safe it is formula that needs to be looked at very closely--now that it is genetically engineered. Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html