IMGC - At the Intersection of Life Science

The International Milk Genomics Consortium is built on three overlapping principles: that mammalian milks are the products of Darwinian evolution to be nourishing, protective and supportive of the growth, health and survival of mammalian infants; that the tools of genomics are building the capabilities to mine mammalian genomes for the functions of the lactation-associated genes that emerged during mammalian evolution; and that understanding the molecules, mechanisms, actions and benefits to health of these lactation-associated genes will lead to the development of a new generation of foods and food ingredients providing health to consumers of all ages. Key developments over the past years have positioned the IMGC to accelerate its progress. The major project to sequence the bovine genome is nearing completion and the annotation process has begun. This sequence information will significantly impact the tools for translating genomic information into other tools, particularly proteomics and metabolomics of milk and lactation. Finally, the pending arrival of various microbial genomes obtained from bacteria whose ability to metabolize the unique molecules and structures of milk represent a newly recognized target of milk components actions, is a genuine breakthrough in the science of human health. The IMGC’s overall goal is to assemble the genetic instructions for the molecules in milk that arose through evolution, and to ultimately understand the basis for their production in milk and the nutritional advantage that they provide. It is abundantly clear that such a bold and ambitious goal cannot be achieved in a single laboratory or even a single institution—it is the logical goal of the world’s scientific researchers. The IMGC program to link the world’s scientific community around the goal of understanding the biological values of milk by housing the common set of information, orchestrating a common set of research tools and hosting an annual conference is a unique opportunity to build this scientific resource together. This 4th IMGC meeting is the most exciting yet and promises to establish the formal electronic portal as the leading resource for milk research.