Rachel. Thank you for the information on Hanson's recent book. I think the publishing company has an interesting name--Pharmasoft. PharmaSoft AB of Sweden is a "global company focused on improving the overall productivity of the pharmaceutical marketplace by developing information systems built on in-depth understanding of pharmacology and a high degree of technical competence." After looking at the 1000 + patents on human milk components that are assigned to (owned by) some pharmaceutical companies, I wonder whether there is a connection between Pharmasoft Publishing of Amarillo, Texas and PharmaSoft AB of Sweden. Pharmasoft Publishing sponsors a breastfeeding conference. The pharmaceutical industry is definitely interested in mammary gland biology. Afterall the mammary gland is a natural bioreactor that makes proteins that inactivate bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. I am amused by Hanson's comments on human lactoferrin. He seems to lack awareness of the lactoferrin industry. I find that surprising and interesting. His editorship of books on human milk for Nestle in the past does not negate his expertise nor his public support of breastfeeding. But I do think that who pays us is an important issue. What we say and most importantly what we don't say has alot to do with who helps us make a living. When we divide the world into the good guys being the breastfeeding advocates and the bad guys being the infant formula industry, then we have truly missed what reality is all about. Life, human beings, cannot so easily be divided. Thus we can and do have human milk researchers who are paid by the infant formula industry. Are they supportive of breastfeeding? Yes. Supporting and defending breastfeeding does not negate the possibility that someone accepts funding from the infant formula industry. It is problematic for those of us who are IBCLCs because of our code of ethics. But for human milk researchers, funding is crucial for continuation of research. Thus it is imperative that we know how our researchers are funded and that we understand how funding might effect our knowledge of breastfeeding. Valerie W. McClain, breastfeeding advocate *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html