patent application #20030213007
"Human milk from these animals can be collected and processed for storage or
fed immediately to an infant as a replacement for mother's milk. In
underdeveloped countries, a few goats, cows, or sheep carrying functional
human mammary cells could supply all the human milk necessary in a village,
in situations where mothers could not breast feed. For developed areas,
large amounts of milk will be collected from transgenic/xenogeneic cows,
sterilized and packaged for bottle feeding of infants who might otherwise
need to be fed with infant formula. For purposes of clarification, "human
milk" as used herein, including in the claims, refers to milk produced by
human mammary cells in chimeric milk-producing tissue, where human milk of
the present invention may include a small amount of non-human biological
material from the host animal and/or may include a small amount of non-human
genetic material, or a polypeptide encoded thereby, present in a genetic
construct used for transformation of human cells or host animal cells."


The first thing I thought of when reading this is - If current infant
formulas are THAT good (and they are - according to the advertisements!)
then why would they go to THIS length to produce "human" milk?????? This
should tell us everything we need to know about formula. The resultant
product of breast implanted goats will be marketed even more aggressively
than current formulas are. 

Could this be a good thing? Sure - just as formula sometimes is - in
instances where mother really CAN'T breastfeed, but that market slice won't
be large enough to recoup the expense of the R&D, patents, production, nor
will it meet the needs of formula companies pockets. "Can't" will continue
to be "Won't". 

Michelle

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