Japanese researchers want to regrow teeth with a drug. They will start the first tests on humans within a year.
Some animals, such as sharks and crocodiles, lose quite a few teeth during their lifetime. That’s not a problem, they just grow back. This does not happen in humans, and almost all mammals. They have to make do with only their milk and adult teeth. But Japanese researchers think they have devised a drug that makes it possible to grow a third set of teeth.
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Mouth full of teeth
The researchers are building on their previous discoveries. For example, they already saw that mice that had more than the usual eighteen teeth were missing a certain gene. That missing gene contains the building plan for the protein USAG-1 – which was therefore not present in the mice studied. They concluded that this protein suppresses tooth formation and that its absence leads to the formation of extra teeth.
In a later research the Japanese looked at mice with a congenital defect that left them with fewer or no teeth. The researchers then developed an antibody that could bind to USAG-1, causing that protein to stop functioning. Mice given these antibodies started to form teeth again.
‘Dream of every dentist‘
The scientists are now announcing that it is almost time for the first clinical tests with test subjects. They are scheduled for July 2024 and are aimed at children with genetic dental defects. But the researchers are optimistic and expect the technique to be ready for general use by 2030. So even if you lose a tooth due to an accident.
“Growing new teeth is every dentist’s dream,” said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi to the Japanese newspaper The Mainichi. “I’ve been working on this since I graduated. And I always had every confidence that I would succeed.”
Sources: Science, Biochmical and Biophysical Research Communications, The Mainichi
2023-07-19 13:00:28
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