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Baby Teeth Are A Source Of Stem Cells

Posted by timothy on from the tasty-crunchy-and-useful dept.

Makarand writes "A pediatric dentist at the National Institutes of Health has found that baby teeth can be a rich source of stem cells. Just like the stem cells found in embryos from which all organs arise, the stem cells in baby teeth could be encouraged to grow into nerve cells, fat cells and the precursors to tooth cells. This alternative approach to harvesting stem cells from baby teeth could help researchers to bypass the moral debate over using embryonic stem cells for research."

2 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. Use teeth instead of blood from the umbilical cord by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    For anyone who has recently had a baby, you're probably aware of the expensive procedure where the blood from your baby's umbilical cord is saved in case they ever need it.

    Would using the baby teeth be a cheap alternative to this for parents who can't afford the procedure to save the umbilical blood?

  2. Stem Cell Uses and Origions by Peapod · · Score: 1, Interesting

    First of all, stem cells have been known to be other places than just in the destroyed "embryo" - a cute way of saying aborted baby - for quite some time now. Bone marrow, skin cells, placenta, and even body fat can produce the same stem cells that are found in developing babies in the womb. There is not feasable reason to destroy life in order to save others. Life does begin at conception, and therefore destroying on life for the benefit of another does not make much sense.

    Second, the promise of stem cells is just that: a promise. No one person has actually been cured by stem cells. No one person has be successfully "repaired," for lack of a better word, by stem cells. It sounds great, but killing people on a promise that is not necessarily going to come through is not only foolish, but stupid.

    Just one man's observations.