Finnish researchers solve the fabrication model of teeth
Lehtikuva / Kimmo Mäntylä Variations in the human teeth from incisors to molars may be caused by a single cell division regulating factor.The team directed by Academy Professor Jukka Jernvall has carried out research on the evolutionary modification of development in mammalian teeth for over 15 years. Now there is enough information to create an outline for the fabrication model of teeth. Teeth act as a kind of a “model species” for Jernvall’s team, which means that the research findings apply also to the developmental phases of other organisms.
Each nodule of our teeth is determined by genes, which carefully regulate their development. According to the mathematical computer-based model the background of the complex genetic jigsaw puzzle lies in a rather simple basic formula. The differences between individual teeth structures may stem from mere one or two genes.
The mathematical model presented by the team can offer a brand new kind of understanding of the make-up of three-dimensional structures of organisms. The new research findings may advance medical science, such as growing new organs in the laboratory environment.
The research findings will be published in the online version of the prestigious science journal Nature. A few years back Nature praised Jernvall’s and his two post doc researchers’ study on dentition evolution as one of the most significant pieces of evolution research of recent years. The recently published research has been carried out together with Jervall’s third post doc-student Isaac Salazar-Ciudad.
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