Medela one of the funders in stem-cell/breastmilk research

How do you expand your market if you are a breast-pump company? One way would be to fund research that sees human milk used as medicine for people who aren't babies. A University of Western Australia researcher has identified human milk as a source of stem cells and this Medela news release asks "could this finally be the answer to ethically and easily obtaining pluripotent stem cells in a non-invasive manner?" There needs to be acknowledgement of the ethical considerations of using human milk as a source for stem cells.

Stem Cells in Breastmilk -- BAAR, Switzerland, Nov. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -

The theory developed in 2007 by scientists at the University of Western Australia (UWA) that breastmilk contains stem cells has been taken to a higher level with the latest discovery by one of the team's newer members. UWA Ph.D. candidate Foteini Hassiotou has proven that stem cells from breastmilk can now be directed to become other body cell types such as bone, fat, liver and brain cells. Could this finally be the answer to ethically and easily obtaining pluripotent stem cells in a non-invasive manner? And what does this mean with regard to the unique power of breastmilk for the growth and development of babies?

Stem Cells in Breastmilk – Theory Becomes Reality

Following Hassiotou's recent win of the 2011 AusBiotech-GSK Student Excellence Award for her research into breastmilk stem cells (Oct.17, 2011), Medela is proud to announce Hassiotou's first presentation of her findings of stem cells in breastmilk inEurope early next year. She will share her findings during Medela's 7th International Breastfeeding and Lactation Symposium to be held in Vienna, Austria from April 20-21, 2012.

This discovery by Hassiotou, who is part of the Human Lactation Research Group under the direction of Professor Peter Hartmann at the University of Western Australia, may well be the answer to ethically and easily obtaining stem cells in a non-invasive manner. The value in harvesting stem cells from breastmilk lies in their incredible potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. They have the ability to act as a type of "internal repair system." With both types of stem cells (embryonic and adult), however, well-documented hurdles exist both from an ethical as well as from a practical harvesting perspective.

Medela has been working with the Hartmann Human Lactation Research Group since the mid-1990s resulting in numerous scientific breakthroughs including overturning a 160-year old anatomical model of the lactating human breast, and a unique insight into the sucking, swallowing and breathing mechanism that babies must master to feed properly. The Group has been working on the subject of stem cells for over five years.

Now that's transparency! Milk donated by moms = "starting material for the products Prolacta sells"

No hiding from how they intend to profit in this job description for a "milk bank coordinator." Donor milk is referred to as "starting material for the products Prolacta sells."

Milk Bank Coordinator - Monrovia, CA - Prolacta Bioscience | StartUpHire /job/milk-bank-coordinator-monrovia-ca-prolacta-bioscience-152349: Prolacta is the pioneer in human milk-based nutritional products for premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Prolacta believes that there is no adequate replacement for human breast milk and, as such, we believe infant nutritional products should be human milk-based. As a privately held, scientifically driven company, committed to improving premature infant nutrition, we are using human milk to change the standard of care in the NICU. Prolacta operates and/or owns milk banks that provide the starting material for the products Prolacta sells.

Stem cells in breast milk? Trading one ethical dilemma for another

Well, I'd say if they really are the embryonic-like cells, it'll just be trading one ethical dilemma for another. One reason why the Special Report: "Contemporary Ethical Issues in Human Milk Banking in the United States" is so timely!

Breast-milk stem cells may bypass ethical dilemmas - health - 14 November 2011 - New Scientist: Breast-milk stem cells may bypass ethical dilemmas

14:30 14 November 2011 by Linda Geddes
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Embryonic-like stem cells have been isolated from breast milk in large numbers. The discovery raises the possibility of sourcing stem cells for regenerative medicine, without the need to destroy embryos.

Peter Hartmann at the University of Western Australia in Crawley and his colleagues first announced the discovery of stem cells in breast milk in 2008. Now they have grown them in the lab and shown that they can turn into cells representative of all three embryonic germ layers, called the endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm – a defining property of embryonic stem cells (ESC).

Researchers: time for best practices for solicitation & use of human milk

Just up - both the abstract and the full publication are available in the current online issue of American Academy of Pediatrics Journal. The authors conclude it is time to consider "best practices for the solicitation and distribution" of human milk.

Contemporary Ethical Issues in Human Milk-Banking in the United States

1. Donna J. Miracle, PhD, MSN, RN^a,^b,^c,
2. Kinga A. Szucs, MD, IBCLC^d,^e,^f,^g,^h,ⁱ,
3. Alexia M. Torke, MD, MS^c,^e,^j,^k,^l,
4. Paul R. Helft, MD^c,^e,^m,ⁿ

Abstract: Donor human milk has been used in the United States for >90 years, but recent advances in human milk science and laboratory techniques have led to increasing use of this resource. Pediatricians began using donor human milk in the 1900s in response to anecdotal observation that premature infants had better health outcomes when receiving their own mothers' milk. Since then, a formalized human milk-banking system developed in the mid-1980s and distributed >1 million ounces of pasteurized donor human milk in 2008. Despite growth in the use of pasteurized donor human milk, there is little discussion in the medical literature regarding the ethical considerations of collection and use of this resource. Key ethical considerations include issues surrounding medical decision-making and informed consent, increasing the limited supply of human milk, how ethically to allocate this scarce resource, and concerns linked to the marketing of a human milk.