Cambridge University has traditionally lagged far behind its U.S counterparts in spawning a ring of high-tech industries (
Pity biochemist Kauko K. Makinen of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor: The very success of his research has slowed the pace of scientific progress. Since 1969, Makinen has been examining the effect of xylitol, a sugar alcohol, on tooth decay in children. While a professor at the University of Turku dental school in Finland, Makinen conducted a five-year study of 324 children and found that those who regularly chewed gum containing xylitol had 53% fewer cavities than those who didn’t. Now, Makinen wants to pinpoint the lowest effective xylitol dosage, and determine whether chewing gum is the ideal delivery system. But his earlier findings have become so widely known in Finland that he can’t find a control group there. “Everyone chews this gum,” Makinen laments. “Dentists recommend xylitol to children ...
