A bright idea: Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and King’s College London spent time identifying the genes responsible for growing new teeth in the vibrant cichlid fishes of Lake Malawi in Africa. Because the colorful creatures lose teeth just to have new ones slide into position, they may hold the secret to “tooth regeneration” in humans, according to a report in medicaldaily.com.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined how teeth and taste buds grew in cichlid fish embryos. According to the report, “Fish have no tongues, so their taste buds grow in the same epithelial tissues as their teeth. Epithelial tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissue, lines the surfaces of blood vessels and organs throughout the body.”

Paul Sharpe, a research professor from King’s College and the study’s co-author stated in a press release:

“The more we understand the basic biology of natural processes, the more we can utilize this for developing the next generation of clinical therapeutics: in this case how to generate biological replacement teeth.”

Did they find similar genes in mice? Read more at: https://www.medicaldaily.com/tooth-fairy-may-work-overtime-future-scientists-discover-how-regrow-adult-teeth-357882