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CHILDREN'S FIRST TEETH COULD BE SOURCE OF STEM CELLS
lifesite.net ^ | Tuesday April 22, 2003

Posted on 04/23/2003 2:10:09 PM PDT by miltonim

CHILDREN'S FIRST TEETH COULD BE SOURCE OF STEM CELLS

BETHESDA, April 21, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Scientists have found that stem cells from baby teeth can be used to create replacement nerve and fat cells, according to a report from UPI, meaning that cells "from a child's discarded molar could be frozen in cell banks to benefit its donor for decades."

"These cells ... are very capable of providing huge numbers of cells," says Songtao Shi, a pediatric dentist at the National Institutes of Health. Two years ago, Shi's then 6-year-old daughter lost her first baby teeth. "I'm a pediatric dentist, so naturally I was the first person to take care of it," Shi said. "Then I thought about the pulp tissue left inside. ... We were very surprised that they were that highly proliferative," Shi said of these and similar tooth cells from seven other children.

Parkinson's and Diabetes are two diseases that may eventually be treated with such cells. Biologist Anthony Mahowald, at the University of Chicago, thinks the tooth cells could be used to cultivate pancreas beta cells, "the source of insulin, or dopamine-producing cells relevant to Parkinson's disease."

For UPI coverage: http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030421-020416-3305r


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: diabetes; parkinsons; prolife; stemcell; teeth

1 posted on 04/23/2003 2:10:09 PM PDT by miltonim
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To: miltonim
Damned Tooth Fairy took mine.
2 posted on 04/23/2003 2:11:53 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: miltonim
So could their soiled diapers.
3 posted on 04/23/2003 2:13:46 PM PDT by Consort (Use only un-hyphenated words when posting.)
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To: miltonim
I was ready with the tooth fairy joke but someone beat me to it.

That said,I find the article very interesting.
4 posted on 04/23/2003 2:17:31 PM PDT by Mears
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To: miltonim
Very interesting. Who wants to bet that the scientific community does not R&D this but conintue to rely upon fetal tissue.
5 posted on 04/23/2003 2:21:31 PM PDT by Ruth A.
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To: Consort
ROFLOL!!! And sometimes, if you're lucky, you find a penny!
6 posted on 04/23/2003 3:06:38 PM PDT by lsee
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To: LibWhacker
That is very funny.

Interesting article. thanks.

7 posted on 04/23/2003 3:22:23 PM PDT by annieokie
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To: Ruth A.
"Very interesting. Who wants to bet that the scientific community does not R&D this but conintue to rely upon fetal tissue. "

I'll bet. What do you want to wager?

8 posted on 04/23/2003 6:11:44 PM PDT by MonroeDNA (Unions and Marxists say, " Workers of the world unite!")
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