Japanese scientists are reportedly set to start human trials for a drug that can regrow teeth. All being well, the clinical trial will start next year and a tooth regeneration therapy could be ready for people with holey smiles as early as 2030, according to Japanese media.
Back in 2021, a team from the Graduate School of Medicine at Kyoto University published promising research that showed a protein called USAG-1 limits the growth of teeth in mice. By turning off the gene that codes for the production of the protein, the mice were able to freely regrow their teeth.
They were then able to create a neutralizing antibody drug therapy that was able to block the protein’s function, stimulating the mice into growing new sets of teeth. Later experiments showed the same benefits in ferrets, which have a more similar dental pattern to humans.
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