Breastfeeding Mothers Taking Martek's DHA Results in Better Sustained Attention in Children

    COLUMBIA, Md., May 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Martek Biosciences
 Corporation (Nasdaq:   MATK) announced today that a study presented at the
 Pediatric Academic Societies' Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California,
 showed that five-year-old children whose mothers received a 200mg dose of
 Martek's docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) for the first 4 months of breastfeeding
 performed better on a test of sustained attention than those whose mothers
 received a placebo.  DHA is an essential fatty acid naturally present in
 breast milk, and a key building block of the developing infant's brain and
 visual system.  American women's breast milk levels of DHA are among the
 lowest in the world because of low DHA intake in the diet.  Supplementation of
 DHA during breastfeeding elevates these levels.
     In the study, conducted by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in
 Houston, TX, 174 mothers received either dietary supplements of DHA or a
 placebo. Their breastfed children were assessed for several visual and mental
 functions at 4, 8, 12, 18, 30 and 60 months of age.  The researchers report
 that at 60 months, or 5 years of age, the children whose mothers received DHA
 for the first 4 months of breastfeeding demonstrated an attention advantage,
 using the Sustained Attention Subtest of the Leiter International Performance
 Scale.  The same researchers had earlier reported (April 2001) that the
 children whose mothers received DHA supplementation demonstrated enhanced
 psychomotor development at 30 months of age. The researchers did not notice
 similar effects on psychomotor development at 5 years leading them to conclude
 that the earlier results may reflect more sustained attention rather than
 better motor function.
     "These results are the most recent in a series of studies that demonstrate
 the importance of DHA in the development of infants and children," commented
 Henry Linsert, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Martek Biosciences Corporation.
 "Martek supports breastfeeding as the preferred method of infant feeding and
 encourages women to supply the best nutrition possible to their infants."
 
     Martek Biosciences Corporation develops, manufactures and sells products
 from microalgae. The Company's products include: (1) specialty, nutritional
 oils for infant formula that aid in the development of the eyes and central
 nervous system in newborns; (2) nutritional supplements and food ingredients
 that may play a beneficial role in promoting mental and cardiovascular health
 throughout life; and (3) new, powerful fluorescent markers for diagnostics,
 rapid miniaturized screening, and gene and protein detection.
 
     This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the
 commercialization of Martek's products. Such statements involve risks and
 uncertainties that could cause future actual results to differ due to a
 variety of risk factors, including without limitation those factors set forth
 in Martek's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
 
     CONTACT:  Pete Buzy, Chief Financial Officer of Martek Biosciences
 Corporation, +1-410-740-0081.
 
 

SOURCE  Martek Biosciences Corporation