Press Release – Feature Article in ChemistryWorld.com by Nina Notman. Nina reveals how breast milk research is inspiring a new generation of infant formulas and opening the door to therapeutic advances.
‘Our target is to synthesise all the core structures of human milk oligosaccharides,’ says Demchenko.
“The medical and public health communities unanimously agree that breast milk is the optimum food for babies. It’s, therefore, to be expected that the composition of infant formula is slowly edging closer to that of breast milk. The biggest change in infant formula in recent years has been the addition of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs).
‘Our target is to synthesise all the core structures of human milk oligosaccharides,’ says Demchenko. His synthesiser is a homemade platform built from a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) instrument that is normally used for compound separation. At the start of the experiment, the HPLC autosampler is loaded up with the required monosaccharides and reagents. ‘The entire synthesis will be done with the press of a button,’ Demchenko explains. So far, his group has completed one successful synthesis using their instrument and is currently tweaking the process to boost the yield produced.”
You can read the full article here:
https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/the-science-of-breast-milk-and-baby-formula/4014574.article