Researchers have used the Australian Synchrotron in their discovery that human breast milk forms into highly organised structures at the nanoscale, during digestion in the body.

They believe this self-assembly process might be key to releasing the nutrients in human breast milk to ensure an infant’s healthy development.

The study, by researchers from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) at Monash University, has been published in the journal Angewandte Chemie. Dr Adrian Hawley, Scientist on the Synchrotron’s SAXS beamline is a co-author on the paper.

The findings, which show for the first time the structure of human breast milk during digestion, could potentially be used to develop new food supplements and nutritional formulas that are more easily digested.

Exciting new cancer research, using data collected from the Australian Synchrotron, could lead to a new approach to the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). AML is an aggressive form of cancer affecting the blood and bone marrow, and has poor survival rates. Patients can be treated with chemotherapy to induce remission, but there is a high likelihood of relapse.

Researchers are a step closer to establishing the link between a protein with a split personality and type 1 diabetes, with the assistance of the Australian Synchrotron.