By Katie Davis A recent study has shown that tooth regenera- tions could be an amazing advancement if the technology holds true in the coming years. In a collaborative study between the Georgia Institute of Technology and King’s College London, researchers
looked at the cichlid fishes of Lake Malawi in Africa, who lose teeth just to have a new one slide into place. Their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, identi- fies the genes responsible for growing new teeth and may lead to the secret “tooth regeneration” in humans.
“The exciting aspect of this research for understanding human tooth development and regeneration is being able to identify genes and genetic pathways that naturally direct continuous tooth and taste bud devel- opment in fish, and study these in mammals,” said the study’s co-author Paul Sharpe, a research professor from King’s College, in a press release. “The more we understand the basic biology of natural processes, the more we can utilize this for developing the next generation of clinical therapeu- tics: in this case how to generate biological replacement teeth.” In another study a Harvard team successfully used low-powered lasers to activate stem cells and stimulate the growth of teeth in rats and human dental tissue in a lab. Their results have been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Stem cells are no ordinary cells. They have the extraordinary ability to multiply and transform into many different types of cells in the body. They repair tissues by dividing continually either as a new stem cell or as a cell with a more specialized job, such as a red blood cell, a skin cell, or a muscle cell. With 26% of all adults losing the permanent teeth by the age of 75, this is a much-needed medial advance- ment as it would be possible to re-grow lost making dentures and dental implants obsolete.
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2017
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