Human molar "scaffolding" from the lab of Dr. Jeremy Mao (Columbia University Medical Center)
Stem cells are widely used for treating blood cancers, but their much-touted promise for curing Parkinson’s Disease or spinal injuries is considered in the distant future at best.
But at Columbia University’s new Center for Cranio-facial Regeneration, scientists believe it won't be too long before they can use stem cells to build some of the nuts and bolts of the human face.
Dr. Jeremy Mao said some components are already being generated in animals, such as "dental pulp," the crucial material under teeth.
"That's only a part of a tooth," he said. "I would like to believe that's three to five years away [in humans]. A tooth is a complex organ, and that, I would like to think is in the ballpark of five to 10 years."
Mao hopes by bringing together 60 researchers from the university's medical, dental and engineering schools, they'll be able to create parts, one by one, and gradually bring them together.
His team has already been able to use stem cells to basically mold the equivalent of a dental implant – for a goat.
Columbia's committing $8 million dollars to the enterprise, and the scientists, cumulatively, will be bringing with them tens of millions worth of grants from the National Institutes of Health.
Fred Mogul has been covering healthcare and medicine for WNYC since 2002. His beat takes him to hospitals, community clinics, doctors offices, health agencies, public schools and research labs across the metropolitan area. His work has appeared on NPR and in the New York Times, Time magazine and Philadelphia Inquirer, among others.
Comments [19]
加油，我们患者需要您的帮助
加油啊。。。。毛教授。。。。全世界的人们都在等着您呢
我是毛剑教授的校友，武汉大学在读博士。牙也不好等待矫正和植牙，很高兴校友能给牙病患者一个好消息！
I hope this chink is able to grow back teeth because i lost my chompers last night getting punched out by my lady after she done caught me looking at another woman.
再生牙的成功将会是人类医学史上跨历史意义的进步！我真的很期待它的问世，现在社会上很多黑心牙医，用烤瓷牙换取了别人的真牙，或者对于牙缺失者来说，真的是救世主。thanks for u !
i'm EAGER TO waite for my teeth!!!
加油！希望早点成功造福人民
太让人高兴了
、
毛剑加油
I would welcome the opportunity to be a part of any clinical trial on humans, as this is my last hope before dentures or implants(too expensive for me right now). So please e-mail with info on clinical trials in near future. Thanks for some hope.
加油吧
Be pround of Mao. Hope he will bring this new advantage to China, his hometown in the very near future.
It was a great congress,thank you Jeremy Mao...
No resistance is needed. This will cost a fortune
I
It could spell the end of artificial dencture
Out with the old.. in with the new... People live in fear of losing their teeth. People dream about losing their teeth all the time and they are NIGHTMARES. If the dental industry resist this technology, They'll be dealing people all over the world, born or not... a huge disfavor...
Jeremy Mao... you and your team will make me soooooo happy... you will make my brother really happy (he was a candy eating lazy kid). You will make the world happy.. You will make life better for so many people. Upon success... I smell a Nobel Peace Prize!
This will be huge!!!
I only wonder what kind of resistance the dental industry will bring. :(
Can not wait. Mao'ist dental revolution.
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