Wednesday, July 31, 2013

New teeth grown from urine - study

Well, this sure should make your food taste good.....................

By James Gallagher
Health and science reporter, BBC News


Scientists have grown rudimentary teeth out of the most unlikely of sources, human urine. 

The results, published in Cell Regeneration Journal, showed that urine could be used as a source of stem cells that in turn could be grown into tiny tooth-like structures.

The team from China hopes the technique could be developed into a way of replacing lost teeth.

Other stem cell researchers caution that that goal faces many challenges.

Teams of researchers around the world are looking for ways of growing new teeth to replace those lost with age and poor dental hygiene. 

Stem cells - the master cells which can grow into any type of tissue - are a popular area of research.

The group at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health used urine as the starting point. 

Cells which are normally passed from the body, such as those from the lining of the body's waterworks, are harvested in the laboratory. These collected cells are then coaxed into becoming stem cells.

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