Stem Cell Banks From Teeth?

Fight Aging!

Do you want to live a longer life in good health? Simple practices can make some difference, such as exercise or calorie restriction. But over the long haul all that really matters is progress in medicine: building new classes of therapy to repair and reverse the known root causes of aging. The sooner these treatments arrive, the more lives will be saved. Find out how to help »

From Sci-Tech Today, an article on stem cells obtained from teeth - a topic I have touched on previously - and the creation of stem cell banks for these cells. The consensus from the business community appears to be that it's too early to tell whether these cells are in fact useful enough to bank. From Robert Lanza of ACT: "The real question comes down to whether or not it warrants the resources, and I think it would be premature at this point to start encouraging parents to start banking all these lost tissues from their children. As the stem-cell field advances, other strategies will pan out ... In a way, it could be taking advantage of parents who might do it out of guilt or lack of information. I think a parent would go crazy if they tried to collect stem cells every time their child lost a tooth, some hair or some blood."

Link: http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=02200000H3S2