Live data from Hacker News

Suppressing a gene by using its antibody can lead to tooth growth: animal study

u-fukui.ac.jp

21–30 of 163 posts

Re: Suppressing a gene by using its antibody can lead to tooth growth: animal study

#21
post #16

I hope someone works on recovering UOX (Urate Oxidase)[1] gene resurrection. It disappeared in one of our predessors making us prone to gout and excessive fat deposition[2]. Recovering this gene will treat both at the same time. [1] https://www.genecards.org/cgi-bin/carddisp.pl?gene=UOX [2] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41366-019-0487-9

Well, not to say that evolution is perfect by any means, but I feel like genetics are very complex and reintroducing that gene could have other side effects.

Re: Suppressing a gene by using its antibody can lead to tooth growth: animal study

#22

So in a few decades I might have a choice between dentures or tooth regrowth? That'll be nice if it happens.

Maybe not that long. I'm 41 and have dentures. 18% of people 33-45 have them. 3% of people 18-33 have dentures. I've got a full denture with implant posts on the top, and a partial on the bottom. It's not just a "given" that teeth will hold out till retirement age.

18% sounds so high. What’s it like living with them? Any problems? Also congrats on being 41!

Re: Suppressing a gene by using its antibody can lead to tooth growth: animal study

#23

So in a few decades I might have a choice between dentures or tooth regrowth? That'll be nice if it happens.

Maybe not that long. I'm 41 and have dentures. 18% of people 33-45 have them. 3% of people 18-33 have dentures. I've got a full denture with implant posts on the top, and a partial on the bottom. It's not just a "given" that teeth will hold out till retirement age.

Perhaps this is a regional variation of English but here in the US I've never heard anybody refer to non-removal dental implants as dentures before.

Re: Suppressing a gene by using its antibody can lead to tooth growth: animal study

#24
post #21
post #16

I hope someone works on recovering UOX (Urate Oxidase)[1] gene resurrection. It disappeared in one of our predessors making us prone to gout and excessive fat deposition[2]. Recovering this gene will treat both at the same time. [1] https://www.genecards.org/cgi-bin/carddisp.pl?gene=UOX [2] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41366-019-0487-9

Well, not to say that evolution is perfect by any means, but I feel like genetics are very complex and reintroducing that gene could have other side effects.

It codes for one protein, and experiments have turned it on and off in other animals. Turning it off benefited humans by increasing the amount of fructose stored as fat during a time when climate change reduced the availability of fruit. In light of our ridiculous modern caloric intake, turning it back on isn't likely to lead to problems.

Re: Suppressing a gene by using its antibody can lead to tooth growth: animal study

#25
post #3

> They found, with animal studies, that suppressing the gene USAG-1 by using its antibody can efficiently lead to tooth growth. And we're sure that suppressing USAG-1 (uterine sensitization associated gene-1) is safe? Since this has "uterine sensitization" in it, it seems like it may affect more than teeth! Just from a quick glance, this says its involved in pregnancy. > Given the remarkably tight restriction of its…

Not sure at all, that's why clinical trials would be necessary for humans.

Re: Suppressing a gene by using its antibody can lead to tooth growth: animal study

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know you're joking but theres actually people who would pray for a treatment exactly like this. The elderly in particular. Over time all your teeth go. When I'm 60 I wouldnt mind them just ripping them all out if I could regrow them in 3 months.

Wouldn't they fall out like baby teeth do if new teeth grow under to push them out?

Teeth aren't just pushed out. The roots are dissolved as the adult tooth erupts under the baby tooth. This treatment has a very long way to go.

Re: Suppressing a gene by using its antibody can lead to tooth growth: animal study

#27
post #3

> They found, with animal studies, that suppressing the gene USAG-1 by using its antibody can efficiently lead to tooth growth. And we're sure that suppressing USAG-1 (uterine sensitization associated gene-1) is safe? Since this has "uterine sensitization" in it, it seems like it may affect more than teeth! Just from a quick glance, this says its involved in pregnancy. > Given the remarkably tight restriction of its…

There's the possibility that localized suppression would be possible. Even if not, any scientists working on this will be well aware to check for potential health complications before human testing was even started.

And that's also why clinical trials are staged. Some things are harmful to humans that aren't harmful to rats, mice, dogs, monkeys, or other test animals. So a few people enroll in stage 1 trials, which mostly just try to look for obvious toxicity. This will start with a few people, going to a few hundred at most. Stage 2 trials try to figure out dose response: how much of the treatment do you have to give to get a given response. This stage is usually a few thousand people. Stage 3 trials try to figure out if the treatment actually works, and if it has any noticeable safety concerns. Most of the time it doesn't work or has safety issues, but human trial data is notoriously noisy, so it takes a LOT of samples to get a recognizable signal. This stage usually has over ten thousand people. After a treatment is approved it keeps getting monitored for safety.

Something like "growing teeth" is more obvious than many outcomes. But the safety issues may not be.

Re: Suppressing a gene by using its antibody can lead to tooth growth: animal study

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know you're joking but theres actually people who would pray for a treatment exactly like this. The elderly in particular. Over time all your teeth go. When I'm 60 I wouldnt mind them just ripping them all out if I could regrow them in 3 months.

Wouldn't they fall out like baby teeth do if new teeth grow under to push them out?

[deleted]

Re: Suppressing a gene by using its antibody can lead to tooth growth: animal study

#29
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe not that long. I'm 41 and have dentures. 18% of people 33-45 have them. 3% of people 18-33 have dentures. I've got a full denture with implant posts on the top, and a partial on the bottom. It's not just a "given" that teeth will hold out till retirement age.

Perhaps this is a regional variation of English but here in the US I've never heard anybody refer to non-removal dental implants as dentures before.

It's not clear if the prosthetic is removable or not. Removable dentures can be supported by implants.

Re: Suppressing a gene by using its antibody can lead to tooth growth: animal study

#30
Whatever progress it may provide, I am certain that dentists and dentists' associations will slowly and surely entomb any process that reduces the sum of their individual annual incomes. I believe Adam Smith called it "the invisible hand" (w/o explicitly noting that the "invisible boot" is jammed into the "invisible customers"' collective asses).
Post reply on HN