Re:Improving mother nature (Score 1)

Rats have slightly different uses for their brains than people, and a somewhat different growing pattern. What seems to confer a limited advantage to rat brains is not necessarily good for people, just as a food that's good for growing cows (cows' milk) is inadequate for growing humans.

I remember a study a long time ago that suggestest that children who were fed breast milk as a child, were on average, slightly smarter than those who were fed other substitutes.

There are in fact numerous studies which solidly establish that feeding artificial milks to human babies reduces eventual IQ scores by up to 10 points. These have been rigorously controlled for feeding method and socio-economic status. 10 points might not seem like a lot at 110+, but oh what a difference it could make for the under-100 set.

Breastmilk is the only thing that comes close to being a complete food for infants. Don't pay any attention to the commercials that try to convince you otherwise. They can only put in those formulas the essential elements of breastmilk that they've identified and can produce relatively cheaply. They can't put it in if they don't know it exists, and they're still finding new stuff.