Baby teeth provide life-giving stem cells

[theearthisround]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=9001636

"Parents will want to store the stem cells found in the pulp inside these juvenile teeth in liquid nitrogen" says Dr Stan Gronthos, a haematologist at the Hanson Institute in Adelaide, South Australia. "That way they could be used to grow new teeth and perhaps even cure neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease."

He predicts they will become effective for growing replacement brain tissue to overcome stroke damage as well as basal cell degradation linked with Parkinson's.

"Many delegates to the Sydney conference expressed optimism that cells extracted from the pulp of children's milk teeth would be more versatile than embryonic material, as well as more ethically acceptable."

[Obviousman]

1. It's an amazing advance

The only down side is the loss of the tooth fairy

[TlalocW]

2. Eh...

The Tooth Fairy was long ago shipped to Gitmo under suspicion of being an enemy combatant.

TlalocW

[LisaM]

3. What do you mean?

The children will be able to command much higher prices now.

[whistle]

4. What about harvesting all other embryonic by-products from...

...newly born infants such as the umbilical cord, the placenta, the embryonic fluid and the protective mucus that is normally washed from the new born baby's body and discarded? Surely all of these must have life-giving benefits that could be researched and perhaps grown to benefit those individuals throughout their lives. Right now the medical facilities steal these from the families and profit totally from any uses that they may derive from them.

I have often wondered about how little we are told about our own bodies and health. Now to read this discovery makes me think that medical research has long been kept moving back-wards by the greed and ignorance of their self-centered activists. Power to the people.

[tigereye]

6. I belive some hospitals do store the umbilical cords

although I don't ever remember signing a release to that effect when my child was born.

[LynzM]

10. Our daughter's umbilical-cord blood is stored

At this point, I believe it is only at parental request (and payment) and you have to get the stuff ahead of time (though the companies are good about helping you expedite, etc.) It's somewhat expensive ($90/yr to store) but since I'm diabetic, and we thought she might be, too, it seems worth it... Fingers crossed the they eventually get somewhere with this research!

[sui generis]

5. got a coffee cup full of liquid nitrogen right here

...not!

Seems like unless you were right there in the doctor's office you the chance of harvesting LIVE stem cells from the tooth would be pretty slim.

Also, once a few thousand viable cell lines were established it's doubtful that an industry would profitably set up to readily harvest them from baby teeth.

I'm willing to bet that the stem cells that come from baby teeth may differentiate into things like teeth and bone more readily with fewer chemical triggers than embryonic stem cells, but also willing to bet that they're probably going to turn out to be somewhat limited otherwise, comparatively.

[JohnnyRingo]

7. Oh oh... Now someone will demand a proper funeral for baby teeth.

The tooth fairy is satan...."We all come from baby teeth"

[abburdlen]

8. make you wonder

what the tooth fairy has been doing with all those teeth doesn't it?

[whistle]

9. Are there any stem cells around from Neanderthals...

...I think we should start over with mankind!

[prayin4rain]

11. Wow. Very cool.

[grasswire]

12. damn

I was hoping that some decades-old baby teeth of mine would still work.

[Moderator]

13. Duplicate

posted Dec 2

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1043685