A person can grow teeth throughout life
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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A group of biologists in the process of studying the restoration of teeth in fish living in one of the fresh African lakes, found that the mechanism is easily manageable and it is possible to start the growth of molars in humans.
Teeth and taste buds develop from one epithelium, so scientists were interested in both elements. Fish do not have a tongue, and taste buds are between their teeth.
There are different kinds of cichlids in Lake Nyasa that could adapt to difficult conditions - one species has practically no teeth, since they feed only on plankton, others that feed on algae, need teeth and receptors to taste the detrimental food.
In their study, scientists derived a hybrid from two species of fish and already in the second generation there were differences in genes, and similar genes that related to the development of teeth and taste buds in rodents were identified.
The embryos of fish were placed in a special composition, and the researchers found mechanisms for controlling the development of tissues, as a result, teeth and receptors and embryos developed more rapidly. Such changes began at the very beginning of the formation of the jaw, approximately, after a week of fetal life.
Despite the fact that there are cardinal anatomical differences between the teeth and taste buds, they are formed from a single epithelium. With certain chemical signals, the process of restoration (growth) of the teeth can begin in humans, experts suggest.
According to the researchers themselves, they did not expect that these processes succumb to management, but this could mean that the epithelium in the human mouth can also be controlled and started the process of growth of molars. Scientists intend to conduct a series of studies and find out how it is possible to force the human epithelium to begin producing not only teeth but also taste buds.
But experts noted that it is necessary not to start the process of growing new teeth, it is important to understand how the development of blood vessels, nerve endings, without which the full functioning of both the tooth and receptors, is impossible.
Similar conclusions were made by researchers from the National Academy of Sciences, who conducted experiments with embryos of rodents.
Scientists injected a special tigger into the embryos, as a result of which new teeth grew in the adult after molestation, although they differ in shape. In rodents, the teeth have a complex shape with several outgrowths, and the new teeth were cone-shaped.
Then the scientists put forward the hypothesis that in the human genome there is information about the permanent restoration of the teeth, but for unknown reasons this process is turned off after the baby teeth fall out in childhood.
Experiments with teeth on rodents were also carried out in Japan, but according to another method, scientists injected processed pieces of tissue into the gums, as a result, a full-length chisel grew in the rodent.
At the Karolinsky Institute, scientists suggested another option for restoring the teeth, after that. As it was discovered, there are stem cells in the nerves of the tooth. This discovery explains the process of growth and restoration of teeth.
