“We are a therapeutics company leveraging human milk biology to create new medicines to transfer gut-brain axis (GBA) disorders with large populations underserved by current treatment options.” Statement made by Lupa Bio/also known as Intrinsic Medicine. https://sosv.com/company/intrinsic-medicine-fka-lupa-bio/
LUPA, a Wolf Goddess or a Biotech Company?
Do our myths and legends become reality? Does a myth shape some of our reality? How influential are these myths to our present day reality? Do tales of Empire impact our science, and what we believe about the nature of men and women?
Take for instance the myth regarding the founding of the city of Rome. A female wolf saves two human baby brothers, and nourishes them by breastfeeding them. According to the myth the female wolf was Lupa, the Roman wolf goddess. The twins had been thrown into the Tiber River, and found by Lupa. There are numerous statues and paintings of the mother wolf with Romulus and Remus. The twins were the children of Mars, God of War, and Rhea Silvia, a Vestal Virgin.
The wolf goddess and the twins are a symbol used by the city of Rome. Interestingly, I have seen this same symbol of the wolf and the 2 babies in two mammary gland biology labs of different universities. UC Davis is one of those universities. https://hovey.faculty.ucdavis.edu/
Nowadays we have companies who believe that the survival of infants is dependent upon infant formulas because many (many-many?) mothers can’t or won’t breastfeed. Therefore other mammal milks (cows, goats, etc) or cell culture (cloned milk) is the answer. Of course the question that is not asked is how many mothers cannot or will not breastfeed? Since 1990 the number seems to increase with every decade. Medical science seems to produce all sorts of reasons why women can’t breastfeed. No one appears to question a society that has strange views on women, and their “place” in our society.
The amazing survival of the twins on wolf milk seems to imply that wolf milk made them strong, politically bright, with a tendency towards violence. Is the lack of a mother and her breast milk representing the belief that the human mother is a symbol of weakness of women? Romulus supposedly kills his brother in an argument. The Roman Empire is considered by some to have been one of the more violent societies in history. Slavery was part of their society, with supposedly 1/3 of the population slaves. According to myth, Romulus was responsible for the abduction and rape of young Sabine women who were made to marry their Roman captors.
Has the views of Empire and a woman’s place in an Empire changed? Currently in our US Empire women will no longer have control over their own bodies. How different is the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking of underage girls to powerful men from the rape of young Sabine Women? How different is the current medical belief system that women can’t and won’t breastfeed, therefore men of science will create the perfect milk for babies? Are our babies bereft of their mothers and given genetically engineered milk from our scientists, any different then Romulus and Remus? And is our Empire any different than the Roman Empire?
I read an article in Environmental Health Perspectives published in 1994 called, “The Mammary Gland: Protein Factory of the Future,” by Romagnolo and DiAugustine.
“In evolutionary biology, lactogenesis, or milk secretion, is considered one of the more important functions for the survival of mammals. Milk consumption by the newborn is critical during the early stages of life. Colostrum, which is produced by the mammary gland postpartum, provides the newborn with immunity and precious nutrients that enhance survival.” https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.94102644
What is it about babies surviving without a human mother and raised on other mammal milks that is so fascinating? I think breastfeeding is far more fascinating. Maybe it is mammary gland envy mixed with capitalistic tales of wealth, power, and control by focusing on substitutes for mothers? Is it so strange that a company that uses human milk research to create medicines calls itself Lupa?
Glycosyn licensing agreement with Lupa Bio (also known as Intrinsic Medicine)
Glycosyn is licensing out their patents to Lupa Bio also known as Intrinsic Medicine. Who is Glycosyn? A company founded by Ardythe Morrow, David Newburg, and Guillermo Ruis-Palacious that has created patents on manufacturing and using Human Milk Oligosaccharides. Ardythe Morrow and David Newburg are listed inventors to some of these patents. https://contracts.justia.com/companies/intrinsic-medicine-inc-14849/contract/234677/
Both Ardythe Morrow and David Newburg have been involved in milk banking (both listed as on the Research Advisory Board to the Mother’s Milk Bank of New England). David Newburg tested 8 human milk samples provided by Inside Edition. The February 2016 article states that Newburg said, “Seven of the eight samples acquired over the internet I would not feed to infants.” And, “He said [David Newburg] 87% of the samples contained potentially dangerous bacteria.” https://www.insideedition.com/14736-breast-milk-bought-online-may-contain-bacteria-that-could-harm-your-child-investigation-finds
This sounds frightening but it is 87% of 8 samples. Eight samples is far too few samples to determine public policy. And rather curious that David Newburg is a founder of Glycosyn in 2002, and a listed inventor to a number of US patents owned by Glycosyn.
At about the same time as Newburg was published in Inside Edition about the dangers of buying human milk on the internet, Glycosyn and the infant formula company FrieslandCampina formed a partnership for the development of a new infant formula ingredient-Human Milk Oligosaccharide. https://www.foodbev.com/news/frieslandcampina-and-glycosyn-form-new-infant-nutrition-partnership/
In 2019 Glycosyn formed a partnership with BASF. https://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Article/2019/05/24/BASF-and-Glycosyn-partnership-to-capitalise-on-HMO-and-gut-health-interest
There are 2 new US patents published in May of 2022. The listed inventors to both patents are Ardythe Morrow, David Newburg, and John McCoy
Patent #11331329, “Fucosylated Oligosaccharides for Prevention of Coronavirus Infection.”
“The invention provides compositions and methods for utilizing oligosaccharides, such as human milk oligosaccharides, to attenuate a respiratory pathogen infection and/or promote recovery from a respiratory pathogen infection in the respiratory systems and/or GI tract of a subject.”
Patent #11324766, “2’-fucosyllactose For The Prevention And Treatment of Coronavirus-induced Inflammation.”
Meanwhile, Ardythe Morrow will be the Principal Investigator from the Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital Medical Center for the PREVAIL Cohort Study. It will last 3 years from a mother’s 3rd trimester of pregnancy until her baby is 2 years old. It’s a $31 million grant from the NIH on a new flu study in babies. The CDC website explains, “In order to develop effective vaccines, it is important to understand how these viruses interact with a child’s immune system and how the mother’s immunity may help fight these infections in the United States.” https://www.cdc.gov/surveillance/nvsn/prevail.html
I find myself being rather cynical about the outcome of this study, particularly since the Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital Medical Center co-own’s patents in which Ardythe Morrow is a listed inventor as well as David Newburg. https://patents.justia.com/inventor/ardythe-l-morrow?page=2
Will breastfeeding be considered? Or will the more narrowed view of, there is some magical component in human milk that can be used in vaccines and medications to save our babies from “the flu.” Will Glycosyn reap the benefit of the myth that some women can’t or won’t breastfeed? Of course they are not the only company investing in HMO’s (Nestle, Abbott, and others are investing in human milk components, made synthetically or genetically engineered). Has myth become reality? Do we have our very own wolves, goddesses of our new Empire?
© 2022 Valerie W. McClain
