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04-22-2024, 01:18 AM
This post was last modified 04-22-2024, 01:20 AM by Maxmars.
Edit Reason: title fix - corrections
I suffer from severe tooth problems (or lack thereof,) so when I ran across this article, it definitely caught my attention...
From Ars Technica: The GMO tooth microbe that is supposed to prevent cavities
Subtitled: Some experts have concerns over the safety of the genetically modified bacteria.
About seven years ago, Aaron Silverbook and his then-girlfriend, a biologist, were perusing old scientific literature online. “A romantic evening,” joked Silverbook. That night, he came across a study from 2000 that surprised him. Scientists had genetically engineered an oral bacterium that they said could possibly prevent tooth decay: “I read it and sort of boggled at it and said, ‘Wow, this is a cavity vaccine. Why don't we have this?’”
So, Silverbook tracked down the primary author, Jeffrey Hillman, a now-retired oral biologist formerly at the University of Florida, to see if he could pick up the torch.
While I always remind myself that many of these kinds of announcements are what I call "press-release" journalism, this article described an encouraging possibility. The idea of eliminating tooth decay really 'speaks to me' if you'll pardon the stretch for a pun.
It appears that someone went the full commercial development route and marketed the treatment as a "cosmetic" product, thereby avoiding human-trials. They had to rethink their website and changed some claims...
As recently as last month, a website for the product included language about cavity prevention. And a previously available press kit stated that “a one-time brushing with this genetically modified bacteria could indefinitely prevent dental cavities.” By the time Lumina became available for pre-orders last week, however, that wording and the press kit had been removed. Silverbook—who does not have a background in dentistry or microbiology—told Undark that his lawyer advised the change in wording on the website, as Lantern Bioworks is bringing the product to market as a cosmetic, meaning it can’t make health claims about Lumina. Cosmetics don’t need to go through the same rigorous trials a drug would. “If anything I said sounded like a medical claim,” Silverbook told Undark in an interview earlier this year, “it wasn’t.”
However, you can't say it was cheap... initially offered at $20,000 for a treatment, they now claim they have reduced that to $250... (before taxes and shipping fees.)
The author reports that "experts" have safety and ethical concerns citing a lack of human trials... adding...
There’s also no data about whether it could spread between people, which brings up questions of informed consent. If someone doesn’t want to risk taking the untested bacteria, but kisses or shares spoons with someone who got the product, would it be transmitted? No one is quite sure.
Well, maybe fairy tales do come true...
From Ars Technica: The GMO tooth microbe that is supposed to prevent cavities
Subtitled: Some experts have concerns over the safety of the genetically modified bacteria.
About seven years ago, Aaron Silverbook and his then-girlfriend, a biologist, were perusing old scientific literature online. “A romantic evening,” joked Silverbook. That night, he came across a study from 2000 that surprised him. Scientists had genetically engineered an oral bacterium that they said could possibly prevent tooth decay: “I read it and sort of boggled at it and said, ‘Wow, this is a cavity vaccine. Why don't we have this?’”
So, Silverbook tracked down the primary author, Jeffrey Hillman, a now-retired oral biologist formerly at the University of Florida, to see if he could pick up the torch.
While I always remind myself that many of these kinds of announcements are what I call "press-release" journalism, this article described an encouraging possibility. The idea of eliminating tooth decay really 'speaks to me' if you'll pardon the stretch for a pun.
It appears that someone went the full commercial development route and marketed the treatment as a "cosmetic" product, thereby avoiding human-trials. They had to rethink their website and changed some claims...
As recently as last month, a website for the product included language about cavity prevention. And a previously available press kit stated that “a one-time brushing with this genetically modified bacteria could indefinitely prevent dental cavities.” By the time Lumina became available for pre-orders last week, however, that wording and the press kit had been removed. Silverbook—who does not have a background in dentistry or microbiology—told Undark that his lawyer advised the change in wording on the website, as Lantern Bioworks is bringing the product to market as a cosmetic, meaning it can’t make health claims about Lumina. Cosmetics don’t need to go through the same rigorous trials a drug would. “If anything I said sounded like a medical claim,” Silverbook told Undark in an interview earlier this year, “it wasn’t.”
However, you can't say it was cheap... initially offered at $20,000 for a treatment, they now claim they have reduced that to $250... (before taxes and shipping fees.)
The author reports that "experts" have safety and ethical concerns citing a lack of human trials... adding...
There’s also no data about whether it could spread between people, which brings up questions of informed consent. If someone doesn’t want to risk taking the untested bacteria, but kisses or shares spoons with someone who got the product, would it be transmitted? No one is quite sure.
Well, maybe fairy tales do come true...
