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In the current issue of the journal PLoS Biology, researchers supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, report they have deduced a network of dental genes in cichlids, a large family of fish, that likely was present to build the first tooth over half a billion years ago. The researchers believe their finding lays out a core evolutionary list of molecules needed to make a tooth. These original dental genes, gradually modified to produce the various shapes and sizes of teeth now found in nature, from animals to humans.
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