Puppy teeth make new dog bone

TOKYO) -- Japanese scientists say they have been able to regenerate parts of dogs' jawbones using stem cells from their puppies' teeth.

Nagoya University Professor Minoru Ueda said Friday his group of researchers used two sets of dogs, each consisting of a 2-year-old animal and one of its 2-week-old puppies, the Kyodo news service reported Saturday.

The researchers collected stems cells from the dental pulp of the younger dogs' primary teeth and differentiated them into bone cells by cultivating and multiplying them, the news service said. The group then mixed the differentiated cells with platelet-rich plasma made from the parents' blood and placed the material into holes made in the dog's jawbones.

A month later, new bone had appeared in the holes, which were about six-tenths of an inch wide and deep, Kyodo reported.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.