EDITORIAL

Old Concepts, Current Knowledge, New ChallengesTHIMIOS A. MITSIADISInstitute of Oral Biology, ZZMK, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich,Zurich, Switzerland

How to cite this article: Mitsiadis TA. 2009. Old concepts, current knowledge, newchallenges. J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 312B:247– 248.

This Special Issue contains papers presented atthe 9th international conference ‘‘Tooth Morpho-genesis and Differentiation’’ (TMD), organized in2007 in Zurich, Switzerland. The papers cover abroad spectrum of topics such as craniofacialevolution and genetics, tooth development, mole-cular mechanisms in differentiation, mineraliza-tion and regeneration, stem cell applications,biotechnology and tissue engineering. It is 30years ago that Professor Jean-Victor Ruch orga-nized the first TMD conference in Strasbourg,France. At that time, he did this with the help of asmall group of colleagues heartily devoted to this‘‘marginal’’ field of research. How ‘‘marginal’’ thisresearch was considered, and how frustrated theseresearchers were, is best illustrated through aneditorial in the Special Issue on ‘‘Odontogenesis’’that appeared in 1995 in the International Journalof Developmental Biology. In this Issue, Guest-Editor Jean-Victor Ruch complained about twoanonymous referees who let him know that theembryonic dentition was not of general interest todevelopmental biologists! Of course things havechanged since then, and we do not have to justifyourselves every time we submit our work toscientific journals. Nowadays the tooth representsa very respected and well-appreciated model oforganogenesis to all scientists. For sure, ‘‘teeth aremore than a smiling or painful curiosity,’’ and weare all thankful to Professor Jean-Victor Ruch forhis commitment to change irrevocably the ideas ofbiologists concerning the tooth. Since the firstTMD conference, the number of participantscontinuously increased during the years, andinevitably TMD became an international confer-ence. Participants meet every 3 or 4 years infriendly settings that provide critical, ‘‘state of the

art,’’ overviews and promote intense discussionsand free-wheeling exchanges of ideas on topics ofhigh importance to oral biology.

9th TMD conference, Zurich, Switzerland, September 2007.

Logo of the 9th TMD conference.

JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY (MOL DEV EVOL) 312B:247–248 (2009)

Published online 28 January 2009 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.21281

r 2009 WILEY-LISS, INC.

The advent of genomics has profoundly changedmany paradigms used to define health anddiseases. While in the past the diseases weredescribed only in histopathologic and anatomicterms, in our days they are described also in termsof gene mutation. Gene therapy could opennew horizons for the treatment of any kindof disease. Molecular biology has significantlyincreased our understanding of the mechanismsthat take place in cell plasticity, pathology andregeneration. Tissue engineering is an area thathas greatly profited from molecular biology.Tissue engineering techniques allow the replace-ment of damaged or lost tissues/organs by newones. Different approaches that combinebiomaterials, biologic molecules and cell trans-plantation techniques are used for the growth or

regeneration of a given tissue/organ. These devel-opments that have as their aim the regeneration ofdentin, enamel, dental pulp, and periodontiumwill have a marked impact on dentistry. Theincreased knowledge on craniofacial and toothdevelopment, growth, homeostasis, pathology andrepair will cause a significant shift in whichscientists will be able to translate basic researchfindings into daily practice techniques.

I wish to thank the authors for their contribu-tion to this Special Issue. This Issue provides vividproof that the tooth model is of broad interest anddeserves a prominent ‘‘place in the sun.’’ Furtherprogress in craniofacial and dental treatmentsdepends upon continued active and vigorousresearch programs in our field.

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J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.)