Actual Teeth From Stem Cells

Stem cells from mouse molars have been used in Japan to produce teeth, which were transplanted into the mouth of juvenile mice. The teeth became functional, even with detectable nerves, allowing the mice to chew normally.

From Medical Xpress:

”Researchers from Japan recently published a paper in PLoS One describing their successful growth and transplantation of new teeth created from the stem cells of mice.

“In order to create these teeth, Takashi Tsuji from Tokyo University of Science and his team removed two different stem cells from the molar teeth of mice. They took these stem cells to grow in the laboratory. In order to control how the teeth grew, as far as shape and length, the stem cells were placed in a mold to grow.
Once the cells grew into full tooth units, the researchers then transplanted them into the jaws of one-month-old mice. These transplanted teeth fused with the jaw bones and tissues on an average of about 40 days. The researchers were also able to detect nerve fibers growing in the new teeth.

“The mice that received the transplanted teeth were able to eat and chew normally without any complications.

“Tsuji hopes that this new development will help further the research being done to allow for the growth of human organs from a patient’s own stem cells. Currently researchers do not have the ability to culture three-dimensional organs outside of the body. The hope is the growth of these teeth will be the beginning step that is needed.”

I love adult stem cell science. If I were to start over, it might be in this part of biology (certainly not evolution apologetics). The bad news here is that I don’t have my molars any more. Plus it's way too late to start over.