Scientists in Japan say they’re the first to have grown teeth in the lab that can then be successfully grafted into adult animals. The method, they suggest, could be used to reconstitute a wide variety of organs, including hair follicles, kidneys and livers. 

But publication of their research in Nature Methods this week has drawn some scathing criticism. Paul Sharpe, professor of craniofacial development at King’s College, London, UK, told Chemistry World: ‘It’s a disgrace. The paper says nothing new. I wouldn’t have accepted it for any journal, let alone Nature Methods.’