TOSS away that toothbrush. A single trip to the dentist as a toddler could be
all you need to keep tooth decay away for life. But there’s a catch. You have to
be willing to open your mouth to an invasion of genetically modified
bacteria.
The scheme involves replacing your mouth’s natural cavity-causing bacteria
with GM bacteria designed to prevent tooth decay. “My goal was to construct a
good version of bad bacteria,” says dental researcher Jeffrey Hillman at the
University of Florida in Gainesville.
The GM bacteria would replace a bug called Streptococcus mutans,
which colonises most people’s mouths…
