A group of Chinese scientists have discovered a way to turn human urine into teeth. Seriously. It sounds gross, but these new, mutant, urine teeth are no joke. The group at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health used urine as the starting point. Cells which are normally passed from the body, such as those from the lining of the body's waterworks, are harvested in the laboratory. These collected cells are then coaxed into becoming stem cells. A mix of these cells and other material from a mouse was implanted into the animals. The researchers said that after three weeks the bundle of cells started to resemble a tooth: "The tooth-like structure contained dental pulp, dentin, enamel space and enamel organ." The only pro blem is that the new teeth are a little soft. Well, and the whole bacteria thing. While the scientists hope that their discovery can lead to a process that will allow for the complete regeneration of human teeth, one London Professor, Chris Mason, is calling shenanigans. "It is probably one of the worst sources, there are very few cells in the first place and the efficiency of turning them into stem cells is very low. "You just wouldn't do it in this way." He also warned that the risk of contamination, such as through bacteria, was much higher than with other sources of cells. Prof Mason added: "The big challenge here is the teeth have got a pulp with nerve and blood vessels which have to make sure they integrate to get permanent teeth.
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