Tooth grown in mouse kidney

Japanese scientists have grown an entire tooth from stem cells implanted into the kidney of a mouse, according to ABC news.

The US Public Library of Science Journal reports the tooth is fully functional and mature, with bone and ligament around it.

"(The tooth) is the Golden Fleece, or if you like, is the gold at end of rainbow that we're aiming for," Queensland University of Technology cell biologist Dr David Leavesley says.

Tokyo University of Science research team member Professor Takashi Tsuji says he hopes this breakthrough will make the research department a pioneer of taking multiple cells and combining them in a complex way to create parts of the body.

The team grew the tooth from a mouse's stem cells, which were grown inside a drop of collagen, and placed inside a living mouse's kidney.

The new tooth was then transplanted successfully into another mouse's jaw.

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