The Amazing Powers of Milk

Milk - it's the first gift from a mother to her child.

Nurturing offspring with milk is a defining characteristic of mammals, of which there are said to be 6,000 species on Earth.

Researchers are paying great attention to this incredible liquid, and revealing some surprising aspects.

I like to think of milk as a magic potion.

It's a mystery.

Mammals have succeeded in expanding into all kinds of places, from the tropics to the polar regions.

This was made possible by their milk, which evolved into the optimal composition according to habitat and parenting style.

Lactation enables mammals to go boldly where no animal has ever gone before.

And we have, we've populated the whole planet.

We now know that human breast milk has a clever mechanism to protect babies from disease.

Based on recent findings, research to create formula with this same mechanism is now progressing at a rapid pace!

We'll learn about some of the latest developments.

Today, we'll look at how science is unraveling the mysteries of milk.

Then in our J-Innovators corner, we'll introduce a rather unique "egg."

In companies and schools, meetings and discussions are an indispensable part of an organization.

Our reporter Michelle will examine how an egg-shaped device helps visualize participants' discussions, and enrich communication.

Hello, I'm Tomoko Tina Kimura.

Welcome to Science View.

And here with us in our Tokyo studio is Mr. David Hajime Kornhauser, Director of Kyoto University's Office of Global Communications.

Mr. Kornhauser, thank you for coming over.

Thanks so much for having me.

Today's topic is milk, something that has supported the evolution and development of mammals, including us humans.

Nurturing offspring with milk is one of the greatest characteristics of mammals, isn't it?

Exactly.

The word "mammal" is derived from the Latin word "mamma," or breast, since mammals nourish their young by feeding them milk.

Mammary glands are not found in fish or birds.

There's something special about these glands which have supported the advanced evolution of mammals.

Yes, I was fortunate to be able to breastfeed my two children, and I can definitely say that it is a special experience.

And, you often hear that breast milk is very beneficial for babies in a variety of ways.

That's right.

The same is true for other animals.

Milk contains some of the most fundamental elements for survival across all mammals.

Now let's take a look at the hidden abilities contained within milk.

Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine is located in Hokkaido, Japan's dairy land.

We visited a laboratory where research on milk has been conducted for more than 30 years.

This is Dr. Tadasu URASHIMA.

What is he doing?

This is milk from a zebra
at the Kyoto City Zoo.

I'm heating it up for analysis.

Urashima's research began with the analysis of cow milk, and gradually expanded.

Now he collects and studies the milk of various mammals from all over the world.

So far, he has analyzed more than 50 types of milk.

Milk is produced when nutrients and water in the mother's blood are taken into the mammary glands.

The main ingredients are the same in all mammals: water, sugar, protein, and fat.

However, the proportions vary remarkably from species to species.

Take, for example, this milk.

It seems thick and creamy.

This is the milk of a harp seal.

Comparing its composition to that of cow milk...

Cow milk contains about 10% nutrients, whereas seal milk contains nearly 70% nutrients.

Moreover, the majority of the nutrients are lipids.

Why do harp seals produce such thick, fatty milk?

The answer comes from their habitat.

Harp seals live in cold ocean regions such as the Artic.

Pups are born on ice floating in the sea.

They need thick subcutaneous fat to maintain their body temperature in the cold environment and survive in the frigid ocean.

In addition, they nurse for only 2 weeks.

Seal pups weigh about 10 kilograms at birth and grow up to 40 kilograms by nursing alone.

This is a fast pace of 2 kilograms per day!

They have to rapidly store subcutaneous fat
to maintain their body temperature.

This kind of fatty milk is produced
as a survival strategy for the pup.

On the other hand, this milk is very watery.

What animal do you suppose this is from?

A giraffe!

Giraffes live in the grasslands of Africa.

Milk is important for their calves to stay hydrated.

Furthermore, the lactation period lasts for about 300 days, so they don't need to grow up so rapidly.

That's why the nutritional content of giraffe milk is one ninth that of a harp seal.

It's still sufficient.

So what are the characteristics of human breast milk?

Compared to cow's milk, it has about the same ratio of water to nutrients, but the breakdown of nutrients is different.

Breast milk contains more sugar than cow milk, accounting for 60%.

Among mammals, humans have exceptionally large brains.

Babies in particular consume a large amount of energy in their brains, which are rapidly developing.

That's why breastmilk is thought to contain a lot of sugar as a source of energy.

Milk varies greatly depending on the living environment and the manner in which the offspring is raised.

It's truly a "custom-made" drink.

It's interesting that the composition of milk varies so much from animal to animal.

It really is!

Working backwards from the mother's milk, one can tell what kind of characteristics the mammal has and what kind of environment it lives in.

As we saw in the video, even the milk's appearance differs by species.

Yes, as we can see here.

Not only the thickness but the color of the milk is also slightly different.

The giraffe's milk is thin and watery, while the Pacific white-sided dolphin's is somewhat greenish.

Yes.

And speaking of giraffe milk, have a look at this.

This is a graph comparing the composition of giraffe milk at 38 days and 59 days after birth.

The ratio of nutrients has decreased.

Why is that?

When a calf is 59 days old, that's the time when it begins to eat leaves and other food by itself.

I see.

So the mother giraffe does not have to provide that much nutrition with her calf.

Right.

And here is a graph of changes in the composition of human breast milk.

The brain of a human baby develops much more rapidly than the body immediately after birth, so the carbohydrates in milk are essential nutrients.

We can see that the amount of protein, which builds the body, decreases, while the amount of carbohydrates increases.

So the composition of the mother's milk changes to meet the needs of the body's growth?

Yes, that's what is believed to be the case.

So even in humans, breast milk is custom-made to meet the baby's needs at each moment.

Exactly.

Lactation is one of the most distinctive features of mammals.

Let's take a look at how it originated in the history of evolution.

The echidna provides a hint about the origin of lactation.

It's an unusual mammal that both lays eggs and produces milk!

See that white liquid slowly seeping out of its skin?

This is the echidna's milk.

Early mammals did not have nipples, and it's thought that they fed their young by having them lick milk oozing from their skin like this.

In fact, research has revealed the possibility that such milk evolved from an unexpected source.

Here it is.

It's the sweat-like fluid that echidnas secrete from their skin in order to keep their eggs moist.

This fluid protects the egg from pathogens and bacterial infections.

Dr. Olav Oftedal believes that this fluid, with its ability to prevent disease, is the origin of milk secretion.

Oftedal's detailed analysis revealed that alpha-lactalbumin, a protein essential for the production of breast milk, has a structure similar to that of lysozyme, an antimicrobial protein found in body fluids.

So we think there was this gradual transformation of the protective fluid that provided moisture and stopped the microbes that were damaging,

to something that was more nutritious, and that this more nutritious aspect of milk was already well-established before the Mammalia forms came about.

This mutation gave milk a new role in nourishing the body in addition to preventing disease.

This is the scenario that Oftedal believes led to the evolution of milk secretion.

Furthermore, based on genetic analysis, Dr. Danielle Lemay says that as mammals evolved, the original function of "disease prevention" changed in a variety of ways in response to the environment.

We found that proteins that are involved in protecting us from pathogens were most variable between mammals.

And that does make sense because each animal has its own environment and its own exposure to different pathogens.

On the other hand, the newly added "nourishing" function of milk helped mammals thrive.

Egg-laying animals, they have to lay their eggs somewhere where, when the eggs hatch, the offspring are going to have access to nutrients in the local environment.

Alligators and frogs, they have very, very specific environmental niches.

Basically the mother is able to provide nutrition to her young in environments where there are no nutrients for the offspring.

Lactation enables mammals to go boldly where no animal has ever gone before.

They can go anywhere on the planet.

And we have, we've populated the whole planet.

So, the origin of milk was a sweat-like liquid with the function of preventing diseases!

Human breast milk is also thought to have evolved from that sort of bodily fluid.

Let's take another look at the composition of breast milk.

In addition to these major nutrients, there are trace amounts of antibodies, enzymes, and many other things.

These protect the baby from disease.

It's been said that babies who are breastfed are less likely to catch colds, so that's due to the antibodies contained in the milk.

That's right.

Of course, other things besides antibodies also protect babies.

One that has been attracting attention is carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates...protecting babies?

I thought carbohydrates were a kind of nutrient...

There's more to carbohydrates than just that.

There are two types of carbohydrates found in breast milk: lactose and human milk oligosaccharides, known as HMOs.

HMOs are a complex combination of lactose and other carbohydrates, and there are many different types.

The carbohydrates in human breast milk are 80% lactose and the remaining 20% is human milk oligosaccharides, which protect the baby.

How do they protect the baby though?

Pathogenic bacteria and viruses infect the body by attaching to receptors on the surface of human cells.

HMOs have a shape similar to these receptors.

So bacteria and viruses mistake the cell receptors and attach themselves to HMOs?

Exactly.

HMOs block bacteria and viruses from entering the baby's cells.

How do human milk oligosaccharides or HMOs protect a baby from pathogens?

When the baby drinks breast milk, the body takes in two types of sugar.

Lactose, which makes up the majority of the sugar, is digested and absorbed in the small intestine as a source of energy.

The other type, HMOs, reach the large intestine without being digested.

The large intestine is a battleground for pathogens.

Viruses and bacteria try to invade the body by attaching to sugars on the surface of intestinal cells.

HMOs bind to the pathogens instead and expel them from the body, preventing the pathogens from entering the cells.

Very interesting.

So that is why breastfed babies are less likely to get sick.

Has this mechanism been known for a long time?

No, in fact, the key role that HMOs play was only discovered recently.

Can HMOs be put into formula to help babies that aren't breastfed?

Technically yes, though it's not easy to artificially produce HMOs.

But being able to do so would greatly improve formula, so technological development is now underway around the world.

The development of technology to artificially produce HMOs is accelerating.

A Japanese company was the first in the world to succeed in this endeavor.

Here's the world's first
industrial production of HMOs.

Breast milk contains more than 250 kinds of HMOs.

They all have a complex chemical structure, consisting of lactose bound to other sugars.

In order to artificially create an HMO, other sugars must be bonded to the lactose base.

However, it's difficult to precisely bind other sugars at the target locations.

Creating the desired HMO was not a simple matter.

So here's what this company focused on.

This is the microorganism
that produces HMOs.

This method of producing HMOs entails feeding lactose to a microorganism and allowing it to ferment.

The microorganism uses enzymes to combine the lactose with another sugar that the microorganism itself possesses to produce the desired HMO.

The company has targeted 3 relatively simple HMOs and succeeded in mass production.

We imagine a world in which children will be able
to consume formula that's close to breast milk.

I think this is a great use of biotechnology that could help mothers and babies around the world.

It really is.

Manufacturers are beginning to develop baby formula with HMOs added in the hopes of producing formula that resembles breast milk as much as possible.

The video mentioned that the company is working on three kinds of HMOs.

I suppose it's difficult to reproduce all 250 kinds?

That's right.

The many complex combinations make this a very difficult task.

At this point, we've only been able to reproduce a few types.

However, if more types of HMOs become reproducible in the future, we should be able to produce formula that's quite close to breast milk.

Let's hope so.

Next up is our J-Innovators corner, where we introduce groundbreaking technology from Japan and the engineers who created it.

Hello everyone, I'm Yamamoto, the chairperson of this assembly meeting.

Now, let me all ask you a question.

What is the meaning of a meeting in an organization?

It's a place where all participants can voice their opinions in order to make constructive decisions.

Excellent!!!

So, do you think a third party can determine whether the meeting was a good meeting or not, without taking meeting minutes or a video?

Hmmm, that would be difficult...

You would think so, wouldn't you?

However, there's a Takumi, or innovator who has developed a device that can determine this at a glance.

Let's visit him!

We visited the office of a start-up in Tokyo's Toshima Ward.

Hello, I’m Michelle.

Hello, I’m Mizumoto.
Good to see you.

Today's Takumi or Innovator is Mizumoto Takeshi.

He's an expert in sound analysis, and was involved in the development of automatic voice recognition technology for car navigation systems at a major car company.

Since his student days, Mizumoto has been interested in communication through sound.

He decided to start his own company with a full-fledged desire to work on visualization of communication using sound.

I asked Mizumoto to show me his device used to evaluate meetings.

An egg and a magic circle?
From a box...?

The device has 8 microphones inside, and combines information about who is sitting where
and from what direction the sound is coming,

to analyze who spoke, and when.

To better understand Mizumoto's explanation, I decided to try out his egg-shaped device.

Mizumoto let me participate as a guest in a meeting at his company.

There are four members including myself.

The meeting started with the egg-device set in the middle of the desk.

The discussion topic, however, was the upcoming exhibition.

With a little more advance preparation,
such as a list of questions that are expected, I’d be able answer them without being rushed...

I did my best to speak up as much as I could, even though I was unfamiliar with the content of the meeting.

The egg just sat there.

By the end of the meeting, valuable data was literally "hatched out."

Here it is.

The horizontal axis shows the passage of time.

The vertical axis is the total amount of each participant's discussion.

My data is shown in orange.

Breaking it down individually, we can see that....

Mizumoto, in blue, is speaking well from beginning to end.

On the other hand, you can tell that especially in the first half of the meeting, I couldn't participate much.

Even though I thought I had done my best to speak up, I really had not contributed much to the discussion.

Here is a conversation between a salesperson and a customer.

We can see that the salesperson in blue is speaking one-sidedly.

Unsurprisingly, the contract was not finalized.

One company analyzed their meetings, and found that managers were speaking
much more than their new employees.

They gave the new employees
more chances to speak after that.

This shows how meetings can be run
with equal opportunity to participate.

This egg-shaped device has the power to change the quality of meetings.

"Visualization" of meetings.

What is the secret that made this possible?

The key is the eight holes evenly spaced at 45-degree angles on the eggshell.

Embedded in these holes are ultra-compact microphones measuring about 3 millimeters on each side.

These microphones pick up the speakers' voices with pinpoint accuracy and distinguish it.

The microphones seem to be
very close to each other.

Can the egg tell the voices apart?

Yes, it uses the difference in time it takes
for the sound to reach the microphone.

The difference in time it takes...?

Let's look at the device from above.

The microphone closest to the speaker and the microphones next to the speaker are about 2 centimeters apart.

This difference in distance will affect the time it takes for the sound to reach the microphones.

Calculated at a speed of 350 meters per second, this difference is six hundred thousandths of a second.

The computer identifies the speaker based on this time difference and the participant's seating position, which is entered in advance.

However, there are a lot of noises around us in everyday life.

Couldn't they get mixed up with the participants' voices and produce incorrect data?

So, we had a conversation while making noise with percussion instruments.

Let's try it.
Here we go.

Have you noticed any changes in yourself
since you developed these devices?

After using this, I listen to
other people more carefully.

Let's look at the audio waveform.

The horizontal axis shows the sound’s direction.

Here, a peak is formed at the 0-degree position,
where you sat, so this is your voice.

The minus 180-degree position
is where I was playing the maraca, so this peak is the maraca’s sound.

This graph shows the sound picked up by the device's eight microphones.

It is integrated, and shows from which angle the sound is coming, along with the passage of time.

If we display the location of the sound source on this graph, it looks like this.

The computer ignored the tambourine and maracas sounds based on the information entered about our respective locations.

As a result, only the conversation between the two of us is highlighted.

Where is the device being used?

It’s used in many schools,
as well as in many companies too.

Some schools promote "active learning methods,"
in which students have discussions in class.

By placing this device in each group, it’s possible to analyze their discussions
and provide feedback.

We asked a teacher who uses the device in her class how effective it is.

Many students shared their impressions, such as "I'll try to speak more next time. "

"I thought I spoke a lot, but I hadn't."

"I started to think more about questions."

Without questions, it's hard to
move the conversation forward.

Students began asking more questions
to dig deeper and keep the discussion going.

Eventually, Mizumoto would like to add a function that also encourages participants who have little to say to express their opinions.

And he also envisions a future beyond that.

I’d like to analyze all kinds of communication,
not only with people but also with animals, and find out what is happening in the world.

And I hope that people will use those findings
to have more fruitful communication.

This is a very interesting device that can visualize a meeting at a glance.

Using them in schools seems like a good idea.

Yes, this could be a good way of increasing inclusivity by making sure that everyone's voice is heard.

Absolutely.

So today we learned a lot about the secrets behind milk.

It really is a special and powerful substance.

That's right.

Science has definitely helped explain a great deal about what makes milk so special.

And I'm sure that with further research, we'll better understand the mechanism by which HMOs,

the component that protects babies, contributes to human health.

Some of their functions may be specific to infants, but they may also have the potential to contribute to human health among other age groups as well.

Mr. Kornhauser, thank you once again for taking the time to join us here in Tokyo.

The pleasure was all mine.