British scientists grow tooth in a laboratory | BBC News

Duration: 2:49

Scientists from King's College London have managed to grow a human tooth under laboratory conditions. While this breakthrough is still a long way from filling in the gaps in anyone's mouth, researchers say it is filling in the gaps in research. The team worked in collaboration with Imperial College London, and have now successfully introduced a special type of material that enables cells to communicate between each other.. This means that one cell can effectively tell another to start becoming a tooth cell, which mimics the environment of growing teeth and allows scientists to recreate the process of tooth development in the lab. Having successfully created the environment needed to grow teeth, scientists now need to work out how to get them from the lab to a patient's mouth. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news #BBCNews