Abstract:Breast milk is the ideal food for infants. As the third most abundant solid ingredients in breast milk, human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) have an important impact on the growth, development and health of infants. A few HMOs have been used in infant formulas. Among them, 2'-fucosyllactose (2'-FL) has the highest content and comprises 30% of the total HMOs in secretor milk. With high nutritional and medical values, 2'-FL is regarded as a new type of food nutrition fortifier, and it boasts multiple functions such as growth promotion, cognition benefits, immune enhancement, anti-allergic activity, anti-viral activity, and intestinal flora regulation. However, originating from breast milk, 2'-FL is unlikely to be obtained by separation. Thus, it is urgent to synthesize 2'-FL in artificial manners, which include chemical and enzymatic synthesis and whole-cell biosynthesis. Cost-effective and easy to scale up, whole-cell biosynthesis of 2'-FL has received worldwide attention. At present many foreign multinational companies have begun the industrial production and commercial application of 2'-FL, whereas the relevant work in China remains in research. Therefore, it is of great significance for China to master the synthesis method of 2'-FL. This paper aimed to review the functional characteristics of 2'-FL and systematically describe the key technologies and the latest progress in whole-cell biosynthesis. The strategies of rate-limiting steps to increase production were also discussed. We sought to provide a biological basis for the synthesis and commercial production of 2'-FL. Further, the paper facilitated the development of infant formulas close to human milk.