The largest biobank of baby teeth is in Spain and will have digital access

The biobank of teeth largest milk center in the world, with more than 5,000 samples from children between 2 and 15 years old, is in Spain, specifically in Burgos (north), and will soon have digital access for scientists can make all kinds of discoveries through it, from the study of rare diseases to human evolution.

The “Ratón Pérez Collection” of the National Center for Research on Human Evolution (CENIEH), in Burgos, celebrates ten years as a reference for a biobank of baby teeth worldwide thanks to the donations that more than 2,300 Spanish children make each year in collection campaigns, and , since last year, also from donors from Argentina and Brazil.

The Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities hosted an event this Thursday to celebrate this anniversary in which, in addition to members of the department, representatives of CENIEH, the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), and other scientific entities participated. and cultural collaborators, such as Casita Museo del Ratón Pérez in Madrid.

María Martinón, CENIEH director, explained today how ““A project that was born shortly after the center did so, as a result of a handful of hopes and good intentions from a group of people who wanted to do science and tell it, has become a fundamental resource for doing science at an international level.”

A reference repository

Researchers collect the teeth in donation campaigns that take place annually in Spanish cities, on the CENIEH website or at the Ratón Pérez House Museum in Madrid, along with a series of data.

Among the information that accompanies the tooth is, among others, whether the child’s mother had problems during pregnancy (the formation of baby teeth is intrauterine), whether the birth was full term, place of birth of the child, parents and grandparents , type of diet, or age of tooth loss.

“This is very basic data that can provide a lot of information”said Marina Martínez de Pinillos, scientific manager of the project, who stressed that each donor has an alphanumeric code that guarantees the anonymity and confidentiality of the donors.

The teeth are stored individually in a CENIEH warehouse that has all the necessary security parameters for their conservation.

Martínez de Pinillos announced that the next challenge for the collection will be to accompany the database, which is already available to scientists around the world, with the scanning of each tooth so that any researcher can study them without having to travel to Burgos and touch the remains. originals.

The scanning, already underway, is done with a specific technology that shows the morphology of the exterior and interior of the teeth in three dimensions and the visualization of the enamel and dentin (tissue under the enamel).

Engage children in science

The “Ratón Pérez Collection” It has already generated a notable volume of knowledge since its existence, with its samples studies have been made on the sexual dimorphism of baby teeth (if they present differences by sex) or comparisons with the baby teeth of hominids of the past ‘Homo antecessor’, among others.

Recently, their study is being used to advance knowledge of rare diseases, as “baby teeth are significant for observing patterns that explain these pathologies,” added Martínez de Pinillos.

Eva Ortega Paíno, general secretary of Research of the Ministry of Science, praised the collection as “an outstanding example of citizen science, and collaboration between the scientific community and society”.

“We have achieved that society embraces the project, that the children who participate incorporate science into their vision of the world, and that this activity can awaken in them a scientific vocation”Martinón added.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the “Ratón Pérez Collection”, The CENIEH will hold an awards ceremony on December 13 in Burgos, in which it will distinguish, among others, the children who have donated the most teeth or who have participated in the most donation campaigns.

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