Nancy,
You wrote:
"While I agree that human milk, just as it is, should be tried for most, if
not all babies, there are some infants (like the one with very short gut) who
simply do not have the physiologic capability of utilizing all the wonderful
components."

What specific references do we have for this belief that some babies are not
physiologically able to utilize all the components of human milk?  Patent #
4977137 called "Lactoferrin as a dietary ingredient promoting the growth of
the gastrointestinal tract" by Nichol et al. with the assignee being Baylor
College of Medicine states that "Mammary secretions from goats, sheep, cows,
and humans have been found to stimulate the proliferation of various cell
lines growing in culture" and "In a large number of human newborns who are
not nursed by the mother but are placed on infant formula, this growth of the
gastrointestinal tract during the first few days may not occur."  It does
specifically mention the use of lactoferrin to treat short gut syndrome.

This patent as well as many of the other patents on human milk components is
a response to the health problems created by infant formula usage,  the need
to replicate human milk components for use in infant formula, and/or the need
to create a pharmaceutical drug that can imitate the healing properties of
human milk.  Lactoengineering seems to have arisen as a direct result of this
research. The separation of human milk components was to help babies who were
not breastfed by imitating the properties of human milk.  What studies are
out there that show that these certain compromised infants are better off
getting a portion of human milk compared to those who receive all of their
mother's milk?  Aren't we using lactoengineering as a defense against the
medical community's push to use infant formula without knowing whether it
works or not?

Mammary epithelial cells (present in large numbers in human milk) are known
as totipotent stem cells.  So we can use them in cloning to repair various
organs of the body or to create new life, yet we cannot use human milk in its
totality for certain compromised infants?  I really don't get it.  I am at a
loss to understand this.
Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC








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