- BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. doctors
have managed to grow pig teeth in rat intestines, a feat of bioengineering
they said on Thursday could spark a dental revolution.
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- Researchers at the Forsyth Institute said their successful
experiment suggests the existence of dental stem cells, which could one
day allow a person to replace a lost or missing tooth with an identical
tooth grown from his or her own cells.
-
- The research may signal that the days of synthetic dental
implants -- dentures, bridges and crowns -- are numbered.
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- "The ability to identify, isolate and propagate
dental stem cells to use in biological replacement tooth therapy has the
potential to revolutionize dentistry," said Dominick DePaola, president
and CEO of the Boston-based research institute.
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- The experiment involved taking seeded cells from immature
teeth of six-month-old pigs and then placing them within the intestines
of rats.
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- Within 30 weeks, small recognizable tooth crowns -- containing
enamel and dentin, a bone-like material found under the enamel -- had formed,
the researchers said.
-
- The researchers said they hope that within five years
they will have developed techniques to grow teeth of a specific size and
shape, and that within 10 years it will be possible to regenerate human
teeth.
-
- The research was due to be published in the Oct 1 issue
of Journal of Dental Research.
-
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-
-
- Comment
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- From Greg Lauver
9-27-2
-
- Before long, you really WILL be able to - make a silk
purse out of a sow's ear - get blood out of a turnip - make a human being
an alien unto himself and an abomination unto Nature
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