Not really. The research papers mention an interaction between an antibody and a gene that controls tooth growth in both humans and mice. If that gene is supressed, there is no tooth growth.
However, every tooth you can ever grow, or at least the embryonal tissue for it, is already present at birth. There is no way to get more, and activating this gene would not give you additional tissue to develop into new teeth.
This is for congenital lack of teeth. not for people who have had their teeth removed.
That appears to be the current goal, but it still looks like the phase-1 will be on healthy adults which is pretty creepy to imagine!
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Not really. The research papers mention an interaction between an antibody and a gene that controls tooth growth in both humans and mice. If that gene is supressed, there is no tooth growth.
However, every tooth you can ever grow, or at least the embryonal tissue for it, is already present at birth. There is no way to get more, and activating this gene would not give you additional tissue to develop into new teeth.
So are they only looking at safety and toxicity in this trial, and not expecting to see additional tooth growth?
Not yet, but it could potentially lead to further innovations in that regard.