Mother’s Milk May Have Stem Cells

Now here’s a story that gives the old saying, “the milk of human kindness,” a whole new meaning. It turns out that breast milk may contain stem cells. From the story:

The Perth scientist [Dr Mark Cregan] who made the world-first discovery that human breast milk contains stem cells is confident that within five years scientists will be harvesting them to research treatment for conditions as far-reaching as spinal injuries, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease…

His team cultured cells from human breast milk and found a population that tested positive for the stem cell marker, nestin. Further analysis showed that a side population of the stem cells were of multiple lineages with the potential to differentiate into multiple cell types. This means the cells could potentially be “reprogrammed” to form many types of human tissue…”We have shown these cells have all the physical characteristics of stem cells. What we will do next is to see if they behave like stem cells,” he says.

Unsurprisingly, Cregan’s research also demonstrates the benefits to the baby from natural feeding. Let’s hope all avenues of the research develop as the Cregan hopes.