Researchers from the United States and Australia have found that deciduous teeth have robust stem cells in their dental pulp. The finding is important, because such teeth may serve as an easily obtainable alternative to embryonic stem cells, the use of which has proved controversial.

Moreover, like umbilical cord blood, they may serve as a ready source of autologous and bankable stem cells, the study says (published online before print in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, www.pnas.org).

Stem cells have …