A team from the Rothamsted Research center, UK, has developed plants capable of mass-producing fat molecules resembling those in human breast milk.
The scientists modified the way a type of oilseed plant generates fat molecules by introducing a mutation that changed the location within the cell of an enzyme responsible for processing fat. As a result, over 70% of the fat produced by the genetically engineered plants had the same structure as that found in human milk. In contrast, only 3% of wild-type plant fat molecules have this structure.
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The study, published in PNAS, could lead to a cheaper way to produce fat molecules similar to those in human milk, and make the formula milk contents healthier.
Read full, original article: Engineered Crop Plants Produce Fat Molecules for Formula Milk
