人类牙齿再生技术向前迈进一步
Good news for soda lovers: Scientists appear to be one step closer to being able to regenerate teeth in humans. A study in Developmental Biology explains how sharks and other marine life are able to regrow teeth continuously throughout their lives.
告诉碳酸饮料爱好者一个好消息：科学家向人类牙齿再生技术又迈进了一步。《发育生物学》上刊登了一项研究，向我们解释了鲨鱼及其它海洋生物可以终生不断再生牙齿的原理。
Until now, that process had been "poorly understood and [remained] virtually uncharacterized from a developmental genetic standpoint." Researchers at the University of Sheffield studying the embryos of catsharks discovered a "special set of epithelial cells" called dental lamina that are responsible for regenerating teeth, according to a press release.
Those genes goes back 450 million years and are likely responsible for producing the first teeth in vertebrates, as well as generating all the teeth since, including those in humans. In fact, humans have the same dental lamina, but they produce teeth only twice ("baby" teeth, then the adult versions) before the cells disappear. Researchers believe it's possible for this research to eventually help people who've lost teeth.
"The Jaws films taught us that it's not always safe to go into the water, but this study shows that perhaps we need to in order to develop therapies that might help humans with tooth loss," says researcher Dr. Gareth Fraser.