EXPRESSION OF HUMAN MILK PROTEINS IN TRANSGENIC PLANTS
The invention is directed to food and food additive compositions comprising one or more human milk proteins produced in the seeds of a transgenic plant and methods of making the same. The invention is further directed to improved infant formula comprising such food supplement composition.
1 . A nutritionally enhanced food comprising
one or more plant-derived food ingredients, and
an additive comprising a seed composition obtained from mature monocot seeds, provided in a form selected from the group consisting of a flour, extract, or malt, and
wherein the seed composition comprises one or more seed-produced human milk proteins in substantially unpurified form.
2 . The nutritionally enhanced food of claim 1 , wherein the human milk protein is selected from the group consisting of lactoferrin, lysozyme, lactoferricin, lactadherin, kappa-casein, haptocorrin, lactoperoxidase, alpha-lactalbumin, beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-casein, beta-casein and alpha-1-antitrypsin.
3 . The nutritionally enhanced food of 2, wherein the human milk protein is selected from the group consisting of lysozyme, lactoferrin, alpha-1-antitrypsin, and kappa-casein.
4 . The nutritionally enhanced food of claim 1 , wherein the seed composition comprises between 0.1 to 20% of the total solid weight of the food.
5 . The nutritionally enhanced food of claim 1 , wherein the seed composition is obtained from seeds of rice, barley, or wheat.
6 . The nutritionally enhanced food of claim 1 , wherein the human milk protein is lactoferrin, and the seed-produced human lactoferrin has a lesser degree of glycosylation than human milk lactoferrin.
7 . The nutritionally enhanced food of claim 1 , wherein the human milk protein is lactoferrin, and the seed-produced human lactoferrin is present in an amount that corresponds to the amount of human lactoferrin found in endogenous human breast milk.
8 . The nutritionally enhanced food of claim 1 , wherein the food is an infant formula.
9 . The nutritionally enhanced food of claim 8 , wherein the human milk protein is lactoferrin, and the seed-produced human lactoferrin is present in an amount between 0.3 and 3 g protein/liter.
10 . The nutritionally enhanced food of claim 8 , where the seed composition comprises a seed extract or malt obtained from mature seeds of rice or barley.