Teeth – the daily grind!
A gene called Osr2 provides the code for a protein known as „odd-skipped-related 2 protein“, thanks to which your teeth are all lined up in a row.
This was discovered by geneticists at the University of Rochester. These results may one day help to find a way to get lost teeth to grow back and prevent the birth defect known as cleft palate.
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Activating this gene in mice causes teeth to grow back!
Preliminary studies have already shown that this gene is also active in humans. The exciting thing about this is that the additional teeth grow from tissue which ordinarily does not form teeth!
Researchers speculate that if the trigger for tooth growth is found then one day teeth might be stimulated to grow back in adults. Although mammals only possess one set of teeth, some vertebrates have several sets of teeth that grow!
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More information at www.rochester.edu
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