Good news for soda lovers: Scientists appear to be one step closer to being able to regenerate teeth in humans. A study in Developmental Biology explains how sharks and other marine life are able to regrow teeth continuously throughout their lives.
告訴碳酸飲料愛好者一個好消息：科學家向人類牙齒再生技術又邁進了一步。《發育生物學》上刊登了一項研究，向我們解釋了鯊魚及其它海洋生物可以終生不斷再生牙齒的原理。
Until now, that process had been 「poorly understood and [remained] virtually uncharacterized from a developmental genetic standpoint.」 Researchers at the University of Sheffield studying the embryos of catsharks discovered a 「special set of epithelial cells」 called dental lamina that are responsible for regenerating teeth, according to a press release.
人們此前對鯊魚牙齒的再生過程「了解甚少」，認為它「一直是發育遺傳理論中的特例」。據報導，英國謝菲爾德大學負責貓鯊胚胎研究的學者發現了一種名為牙板的「特殊上皮細胞群」，它能再次發育出牙齒。
Those genes goes back 450 million years and are likely responsible for producing the first teeth in vertebrates, as well as generating all the teeth since, including those in humans. In fact, humans have the same dental lamina, but they produce teeth only twice (「baby」 teeth, then the adult versions) before the cells disappear. Researchers believe it’s possible for this research to eventually help people who』ve lost teeth.
這種基因的存在可以追溯到4.5億年前，可能正是因為它，脊椎動物（包括人類）才長出了第一批牙齒，以及之後的所有牙齒。事實上，人類也有相同的牙板，但人類的牙板在牙齒發育完兩次（即乳牙和恆牙）之後，就消失了。研究人員認為，這項研究很有可能最終會幫助缺牙患者重新擁有牙齒。
「The Jaws films taught us that it’s not always safe to go into the water, but this study shows that perhaps we need to in order to develop therapies that might help humans with tooth loss,」 says researcher Dr. Gareth Fraser.
研究人員加雷斯·弗雷澤博士說：「《大白鯊》這部電影告訴我們，人類進入海裡可能遭遇危險。但我們的研究表明，為了幫缺牙患者找到修複方法，或許我們還是有必要入海（研究海洋生物）。」
Vocabulary
marine life：海洋生物
embryo：胚胎
baby teeth：乳牙
adult teeth：恆牙
英文來源：yahoo.com
譯者：郭雯熙
審校&編輯：杜娟