Ellie Zolfagharifard/ dailymail.com
It sounds like a great idea, but how realistic is it that one day humans will be able to regrow their teeth if they lose them?
In the future, scientists hope to be able to mimic cichlid fish and help humans
regrow their teeth. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
According to scientists, very. Working with hundreds of cichlids, scientists are beginning to understand how they maintain their hundreds of teeth throughout their adult lives. This is promising for humans, if scientists can figure out how to translate that into humans. Cichlids replace a tooth as soon as they lose one. The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found the teeth and taste buds grow from the same surface tissues in embryonic fish. By studying the genetic differences in the fish – and mice – the scientists believe it’s possible the same tissue in humans could also be able to regenerate new teeth. Researchers are hopeful but still have a long way to go. They still need to understand how nerves and blood vessels grow into teeth to make them viable.
