Newyork, NY / Storyteller / Oct 31, 2025 /


Introduction: A 2016 series published in The Lancet revealed that consistent breastfeeding worldwide could prevent approximately 800,000 child deaths each year. Today, HSG (HongShan Capital Group) and Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), led by Bill Gates, have taken active positions in the reconstructed human milk sector, fostering and funding companies such as PeaceBio and Helaina.

Breast milk is hailed as “the first line of immune defense in life”. Its biological complexity and unique nutritional functions remain at the forefront of ongoing scientific exploration.

A large-scale 19-year study, the PROBIT (Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial), showed that among groups practicing long-term exclusive breastfeeding, the risk of atopic eczema was reduced by 54%. The research further confirmed a significant correlation between breastfeeding and reduced risks of atopic dermatitis and multiple chronic diseases in children.

However, there remains a wide gap between the ideal and the reality of breastfeeding worldwide. According to UNICEF data from 2019, only about 40% of infants globally are exclusively breastfed during their first six months of life, and among 194 countries, just 23 have exclusive breastfeeding rates exceeding 60%. Behind this gap lie intertwined real-world challenges:

  • Social and economic pressures: fast-paced workplaces, lack of paid maternity leave, and insufficient support resources;
  • Health constraints: diseases such as HIV, syphilis, and chronic hepatitis B can be transmitted through breast milk;
  • Physiological limitations: around 5%-15% of women face lactation insufficiency due to biological or medical causes.

These structural challenges have given rise to unregulated black markets for human milk, posing serious risks in terms of safety, ethics, and public health. Against this backdrop, research on reconstructed human milk has emerged as a revolutionary solution to break the global breastfeeding dilemma. This field has given rise to innovative biotechnology companies such as Turtle Tree, Helaina, PeaceBio, 108 Labs, and Biomilq.

Reconstructed Human Milk: Rebuilding the Foundation of Early-Life Nutrition

Scientific exploration into reconstructed human milk can be traced back to around 2013, when synthetic biology was still in its infancy. At that time, researchers began experimenting with reprogrammed microbial systems to produce bioactive proteins unique to human milk.

Since 2019, breakthroughs in synthetic biology, AI-driven protein design, and precision fermentation have revitalized the field. Companies such as Helaina and PeaceBio, which harness cutting-edge science and technology to reconstruct the wisdom of human milk, have rapidly become new hotspots for investment in the life sciences.

Research teams in synthetic biology and protein engineering are now deciphering the molecular structure and function of human milk in entirely new ways. Through microbial system reprogramming and targeted fermentation, they are reconstructing the core bioactive components of human milk, including lactoferrin, a-lactalbumin, immunoglobulins, and human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). Together, these elements form the biological network underlying human milk’s ability to regulate immunity, promote intestinal development, and support metabolic balance.

Breaking away from the traditional limits of “nutritional imitation”, the reconstruction of active components in reconstructed human milk has achieved a complete transformation from molecular replication to functional network reconstruction, signifying a comprehensive leap forward in both scientific technology and research paradigms.

At the same time, this technology enables high-fidelity regeneration of proteins and carbohydrates through controlled microbial systems. The resulting products are pure, safe, animal-free, and entirely traceable throughout the process. This approach not only eliminates the contamination risks and ethical issues associated with animal extraction and donor milk but also offers nutrition science a new path that is scalable, sustainable, and scientifically precise.

Global Race: Accelerating the Path from Laboratory to Industrialization

At present, technological exploration of reconstructed human milk primarily focuses on synthetic biology pathways. Research teams use microbial hosts such as yeast and lactic acid bacteria, introducing human milk protein genes and employing precision fermentation to produce bioactive proteins structurally identical to those in natural breast milk. This approach offers significant advantages in safety, controllability, purity, and scalability.

In recent years, the field has become a focal point for global research and investment. A growing number of innovative biotechnology companies led by Helaina, PeaceBio, and Turtle Tree have emerged across North America, Europe, and Asia. Venture capital and institutional investors continue to pour resources into advancing the research and development and industrialization of bioidentical milk proteins. This trend highlights the potential of technological breakthroughs and indicates that reconstructing the bioactive components of human milk through synthetic biology is becoming an important frontier in the life sciences and nutrition industries.

Several core biosynthetic components of human milk have already received U.S. FDA recognition for research and controlled-use stages, with commercial approval processes underway. Their potential applications span gut health, healthy aging, women’s health, functional nutrition, and topical immune care.

Industry Leaders: Global Innovators and Investment Focus

Within this emerging field, a growing number of biotechnology pioneers worldwide have made the critical leap from laboratory innovation to industrial-scale capability, with strong capital investment serving as the engine for rapid growth.

In the United States, Helaina focuses on gut health, centering its research on milk-derived functional proteins. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, PeaceBio is dedicated to healthy nutrition and infant skin immune care, exploring diverse pathways for reconstructed human milk applications. Through their distinct technological approaches and commercialization strategies, these companies are collectively driving reconstructed human milk from a science-fiction concept to real-world application.

Helaina—Advancing Human Milk Nutrition Through a Functional Protein Platform

Helaina was founded in 2019 by food scientist Laura Katz. A podcast about the black market for breast milk inspired her, making her realize that beyond athletes striving for peak performance and new parents seeking optimal nutrition for their infants, controlled and traceable bioidentical proteins could also offer new options for infants with lactation deficiencies. The company focuses on using genetic engineering to produce bioidentical proteins that are highly homologous to human lactoferrin. Lactoferrin, a key immune-active component in breast milk, plays a crucial role in helping regulate the gut microbiome and defend against pathogens while the infant’s immune system is still developing.

Helaina’s research has attracted investment from leading firms including Avidity Partners, Spark Capital, Prime Movers Lab, and Toba Capital, with total funding exceeding US$90 million. Its business model centers on a functional protein platform, targeting the infant nutrition, adult wellness, and functional food markets, driving forward the development and commercialization of bioidentical milk proteins.

PeaceBio—Pioneering the Third Path of Breastfeeding

Building on years of expertise in synthetic biology, the PeaceBio research team has applied synthetic biology techniques and microbial fermentation to reconstruct the key bioactive components of human milk. Through this process, the team successfully developed an immune protein fragment identical in structure and function to lactoferrin in breast milk, naming it A60. A60 has been proven suitable for use in innovative alternatives to traditional infant formula, offering a third pathway for breastfeeding. It upholds the “gold standard” of breast milk while using modern scientific approaches to address the challenges of breastfeeding in a controllable and ethical way.

Research on A60 shows strong potential in nutritional and immune health applications, providing new solutions for related fields. The company has also expanded the scope of its studies, exploring the use of A60-derived components in skin barrier support and overall dermatological wellness.

PeaceBio has secured continued investment from leading funds such as HSG (HongShan Capital Group), underscoring global capital’s confidence in the commercial potential of synthetic-biology-based reconstructed human milk and its cross-disciplinary applications. The company plans to launch its first global health food product line by the end of 2025 and to introduce a new range of infant skin immune-care products, marking an important step toward the commercial implementation of reconstructed human milk technology.

Capital Convergence: A New “Goldmine” in Life Sciences

Since 2020, total financing in the reconstructed human milk and bioidentical milk protein sectors has exceeded US$500 million.

In addition to specialized technology accelerators such as SOSV and Prime Movers Lab, a growing number of cross-sector investment institutions have entered the field, including Spark Capital, VERSO Capital, Siam Capital, and FoodHack. Horizons Ventures, founded by Li Ka-shing, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), initiated by Bill Gates and other technology leaders, have also actively built portfolios in this space.

Notably, the investment landscape extends well beyond traditional life sciences. It includes funds focused on consumer innovation and sustainability, venture firms active in internet, mobile technology, fintech, and advanced manufacturing, as well as strategic capital specializing in clean energy and climate technology.

For investors, the value of reconstructed human milk lies not only in its cutting-edge concept but also in its unique combination of scientific depth, market potential, and policy momentum: its highly complex reconstruction systems create strong technological barriers; its broad application scope connects multiple markets, including infant nutrition, women’s health, and functional skincare. Meanwhile, global demand for controllable, sustainable, and high-purity nutritional sources continues to rise.

The participation of multi-dimensional investment institutions demonstrates that reconstructed human milk is no longer confined to the realm of food or nutritional science. It has become a new global investment frontier that integrates technological innovation and sustainable value, reflecting the strategic potential of this technology within the future global health ecosystem and the green biomanufacturing industry.

The Future of Science: Harnessing Technology to Benefit Every Life in Need

Today, reconstructed human milk technology is moving steadily from scientific validation toward commercial application. Its core components have already gained research-level recognition within regulatory frameworks in several countries, laying a crucial foundation for the broader application of synthetic biology in global nutrition and health.

Studies and practices by companies such as Helaina and PeaceBio show that the core of reconstructed human milk technology lies not merely in replicating individual molecules, but in systematically understanding and rebuilding the complex bioactive components of human milk and their functional interactions. The inflow of capital and the advancement of industrialization are also driving the scientific community to evolve from a single-nutrient perspective toward a multidisciplinary integration of systems biology and immune engineering.

The development of reconstructed human milk technology not only reveals its potential value in nutrition science, health applications, and life technology industries, but also opens new directions for future synthetic biology research and applications, enabling science to recreate nature’s original wisdom in a purer and more sustainable way.

At a deeper level, reconstructed human milk technology represents humanity’s attempt to achieve “natural equity” through scientific innovation, making the nutritional and protective functions of breast milk no longer limited by individual differences, but universally accessible to every life in need through the power of technology.

Camille Carter

peacebioa60.com

Disclaimer: This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies (including product offerings, regulatory plans and business plans) and may change without notice. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.


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