Dispensary Corner 31 Jul 13
July 31, 2013
Chinese scientists have grown
rudimentary teeth out of what
must be 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 toothlike
structures.
The research team from
the Guangzhou Institutes of
Biomedicine and Health hopes
the technique could be developed
into a way of replacing lost teeth.
However, Prof Chris Mason, a
stem cell scientist at University
College London, said urine was a
poor starting point.
"It is probably one of the worst
sources, there are very few cells
in the first place and the efficiency
of turning them into stem cells is
very low,” he said.
And while we’re on the subject
of mouths, scientists at the
National Taiwan University have
developed a new electronic tooth
sensor which can automatically
detect whether a wearer is
sticking to a diet.
The killjoy gadget monitors
the movement of the jaw, and is
being touted as possibly enabling
physicians to keep track of their
patient’s dining activities.
It’s a dentist’s dream because
it can also report on how often
users are brushing and flossing
- and for those on strict orders
to quit smoking the device could
even create an alert if the patient
decided to have an illicit cigarette.
It’s still in early stages, with
volunteer testers having the
sensor somewhat awkwardly
implanted on a tooth which was
connected using wires to an
external power source and a data
logging device - but eventually
it’s envisaged that it would have
a micro battery and transmit the
data wirelessly.
The researchers found that
the prototypes could accurately
detect what the wearers were
doing almost 95% of the time.
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