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05-04-2004 01:40 AM |
Growing new teeth, possibility in 5 years?
Lose a tooth? Just grow a new one! say British scientists
LONDON (AFP) - Fake teeth, denture glue and sucking on bald gums may soon become a thing of the past, say a group of British scientists working on a procedure that makes teeth grow from stem cells implanted in the gum.
The scientists at King's College, London announced Monday they had made a breakthrough in mice, coaxing stem cells to grow into teeth within only a few weeks.
The procedure entails taking stem cells from a living being, nurturing them in a laboratory until they form a ball of new cells known as a bud, and inserting the bud into the gum where the new tooth is needed.
The researchers estimate human teeth in adults could take about two months to develop fully.
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the potential to grow into other kinds of cells in the body, and are often used in biological research.
The college has set up a private company, Odontis, to develop the venture, and was given a start-up grant of 500,000 pounds (750,000 euros, 895,000 dollars) to work toward a commercial product for humans, the BBC reported.
Testing on humans could begin in about two years.
"There is no reason why it shouldn't work in humans, the principles are the same," Paul Sharpe, a specialist in the field of regenerative dentistry and the developer of the technique, told the Guardian newspaper.
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