Thursday, April 8, 2010

Stem Cells Harvested From Teeth

http://www.fox12idaho.com/global/story.asp?s=12274274


This is a mouth with a nice set of teeth.

http://womenofthecongo.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/white-teeth.26373811_std.jpg

"Stem Cells Harvested From Teeth." Fox 12 Idaho. World Now and KTVR, 07 Apr 2010. Web. 08 Apr 2010. .
  • Doctor Lon McRae from Boise, Idaho has harvested stem cells from teeth.

  • Can use baby teeth or regular teeth.

  • "Stemsave" is a company that stores the stem cells.

  • Doctor McRae has only tried this experiment on his son so far.

  • Wisdom teeth have the strongest cells.

Reflection


This story caught my eye when I read it because I thought stem cells only came from certain places, specifically embryonic cells. Now, stem cells are being found all over the body. Teeth seem like a logical choice because they are strong tissues that are packed together. These hardened tissues could possibly be a source of stem cells. This story seems similar to Embryos-R-Us, because so many people and corporations have a stake in this discovery. I wonder if this experiment will work on others besides his son, the single patient Doctor McRae has already performed on. If it does, then it may create a new breakthrough in stem cell technology. This new experiment has shown me that anyone can discover something, if they look close enough in biology.

No comments:

Post a Comment