by Allison B
There is a question in scientists’ minds as to why mammals develop a single row a teeth, while sharks sport several. They conducted a study that may help guide efforts to re-grow missing teeth and prevent cleft palates, which is one of the most coming birth defects. As the baby is I the womb, their teeth and palate are tightly controlled in space and time by gene expression. According to the article, gene expression is the process by which information stored in genes is converted into proteins that make up the body’s structures and carry its messages.
Researches discovered that turning off a single gene is mice resulted in development of extra teeth, next to and inside of their first molars. Past research also showed that involved biochemical players are active in humans as well.
A question that can be asked throughout all this is why extra teeth are formed? In the U.S. adults aged 20 years and older are missing an average of 4 teeth due to come type of gum disease, trauma, or congenital defects.
The article ends stating this statement, “Beyond medical applications, our results suggest that diversity in the number of tooth rows across species may be due to evolutionary changes in the control of the BMP4/Msx1 pathway,” Jiang said. “In mammals, Osr2 suppresses this pathway to restrict teeth within a single row.”
Questions:
1) In your opinion why do you think teeth grow in a single row as opposed to multiple rows?
2) Did you find anything interesting about this study that was conducted?
