Key takeaways
- Cell-cultured breast milk is made by human mammary cells grown in a bioreactor.
- The goal is a product closer to breast milk than today's formula, which is mostly based on cow's milk.
- It can't replicate everything. Antibodies, hormones and some other components come from the mother's body, not the mammary cells.
- Infant food faces the strictest safety bar of all. No cell-cultured breast milk is approved for sale.
Most cell-based milk companies are working on cow’s milk. A smaller group is chasing something arguably more valuable: human breast milk, grown from human mammary cells.
Why breast milk?
Health authorities recommend breastfeeding where possible, but many parents can’t or don’t for a wide range of reasons. Infant formula fills the gap, and it’s largely built on cow’s milk proteins, adjusted to come closer to human milk.
Formula is safe and nutritionally complete, but human milk contains a remarkably complex mix of proteins, fats and sugars that formula can only approximate. That gap is what cell-cultured breast milk companies are trying to close.
How it works
The process mirrors cell-based cow’s milk:
- Human mammary cells are obtained from donated breast tissue or milk.
- The cells are multiplied in growth media.
- They’re grown on a structure that lets them take in nutrients on one side and release milk on the other.
- Hormonal signals switch on milk production, and the milk is collected.
BIOMILQ, one of the pioneers, described growing cells from donor tissue in flasks and then moving them into bioreactors where they secrete milk components.
What it can replicate, and what it can’t
Mammary cells make many of the signature components of human milk: its specific proteins, fats and lactose. Done well, the overall balance of protein, fat and carbohydrate should be closer to breast milk than formula is.
But a mother’s milk also carries things made elsewhere in her body:
- Antibodies, which transfer immune protection from mother to baby
- Hormones that travel from her bloodstream
- Some fatty acids and other compounds influenced by her diet
BIOMILQ co-founder Leila Strickland has said openly that the company can’t fully replicate every nutrient in human milk, specifically mentioning certain hormones and fatty acids. Cell-cultured breast milk is best understood as a potential better alternative to formula, not a perfect copy of breastfeeding.
Who’s working on it
- BIOMILQ (North Carolina, US). Founded by Leila Strickland and Michelle Egger, it raised a $21 million Series A in 2021 with backing from Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
- Wilk (Israel). Developing cell-cultured human milk components, including fat, for infant formula alongside its cow’s milk work.
- Nūmi (France). Listed by Green Queen in 2026 among companies working on cultivated breast milk.
- 108Labs (US). Listed in the same 2026 roundup as developing cell-based infant formula.
See our company tracker for the wider field.
The regulatory bar is high
Infant formula is one of the most tightly regulated foods there is, because it may be a baby’s only source of nutrition. In 2022, Strickland noted there wasn’t really a regulatory framework that existed for cell-cultured milk, and that proving safety for infants would be an extensive process.
That means cell-cultured breast milk is likely to take longer to reach the market than cell-based cow’s milk, even if the science is ready. When it does arrive, it may first appear as an ingredient added to formula rather than a standalone product.
The bottom line
Cell-cultured breast milk is one of the most promising and most difficult corners of the field. It won’t replace breastfeeding, but it could someday give parents an option that’s closer to it than today’s formula.
Sources
- Vegconomist, BIOMILQ cell-cultured breast milk, May 2022
- Vegconomist, Wilk cell-cultured milk fat, July 2022
- Green Queen, Opalia funding to scale up and seek regulatory approval, April 2026 (includes a list of cell-based dairy companies)
