Turning mother's milk into probiotic supplement

DAVIS, California (WPVI) -- We know a mother's breast milk has some big health benefits.

Evidence shows that breast-feeding can boost immunity and protect them from a wide range of health issues such as obesity, diabetes, liver problems and cardiovascular disease.

In fact, Professor Bruce German of the UC-Davis Foods for Health Institute, calls it "the Rosetta Stone for all food."

So now a university food lab is trying to apply those to a new medical use.

Food scientists at the University of California-Davis have developed a probiotic supplement based on human breast milk.

They discovered that some sugars in breast milk don't actually nourish babies, but provide food for B.infantis, a bacteria which protects newborns from disease.

So they created a powder which contains both the sugars and the bacteria.

The scientists believe the probiotic could boost weakened immune systems for premature babies and chemotherapy patients, as well as children in developing nations.

Those infants are extremely vulnerable to dangerous intestinal bacteria.

In addition to the powder, the team is working on a pill form.

They hope to have it at hospitals within a year.