Scientists from Japan recently published a paper that details how they successfully grew new teeth from the stem cells of mice.
According to MedicalXPress the research paper describing their successful growth and transplantation of the new teeth was published in the open access journal PLoS One.
Takashi Tsuji from Tokyo University of Science and his colleagues removed two different stem cells from the molar teeth of mice to build these teeth. They transported these cells to a laboratory where they could grow. To influence how the teeth grew in relation to size and shape, the cells were put inside of a mold to grow.
When the cells developed into full tooth units, the researchers then placed them into the jaws of one-month-old mice. The transplanted choppers attached themselves to the jaw bones and tissues on an average of about 40 days.
They also saw that nerve fibers had begun growing in the engineered teeth.
Even better, the mice that were given the stem cell teeth had no problems chewing and eating like they normally would.
Tsuji hopes that this development will eventually lead to growing human organs from stem cells. Scientists cannot currently make full organs outside of a human body.
Tsuji maintains that the right stem cells must be used for building and repairing parts of the human body. Scientists think that in the future we will be able to make stem cell teeth for people. That way we can replace the teeth we lose in bar fights video game accidents.
The best part about this whole development is that people who are interested in the regeneration of teeth in mice using stems cells can read the complete research paper online.
After all, what good is a scientific development if people can’t read about it because of outdated pay walls?
