Scientists have used gene therapy on embryos to grow hair cells with the potential to reduce hearing loss in adults. This test was done on lab mice, not humans, mind you.
How your ear can hear.
Sensory hair cells inside the cochlea, the auditory portion of the inner ear, convert sound waves into electrical pulses which are then delivered to the brain.
The loss of these cells and the neurons they contain is the most common cause of hearing impairment and deafness.
At birth, humans have about 30,000 hair cells, which can be damaged by infections, ageing, genetic diseases, loud noise, or medical treatments.
Ususally, the damaged hair cells do not regrow in humans. But recent research has kindled hope that nerve deafness may one day be curable.
Experiments have shown that implanting a gene known as Atoh1 into the inner ear of a mouse embryo caused non-sensory cells to become the sensory hair cells.
Earlier research had hinted that this would happen, but this was the first time that working hairs werre created by gene therapy.
The production of the working hair cells in a mouse embryo are a crucial step toward using similar therapies in human patients.
Lets’ just hope it doesn’t grow those long ear hairs that older men get!!
Seriously, this sounds promising. I work in a hospital laboratory surrounded by the constant drone of instrumentation. Every year the volume goes up and many of us have noticed hearing loss.
By: Lynne at Hasty Brook on August 29, 2008
at 5:58 pm
Interesting. I used to supply my kids and their friends with ear protection when they went to concerts. Don’t know if they actually used them, but I made certain they had them.
By: NCMountainwoman on August 29, 2008
at 11:34 pm
That could be a fairly easy cure once they get everything worked out. It would be a big breakthrough!
By: montucky on August 30, 2008
at 2:25 am
@Lori: I think they should build them well trimmed.
@Mountainwoman: I never used them, and still haven’t gone deaf. I think that concerts once and a while should be enjoyed at full volume, as long as it is not a habit. But that is just me.
@montucky: Yep, they already made the jump to mammals, closer human analogs are next, but they are very close.
By: scienceguy288 on August 31, 2008
at 3:00 pm
Certainly It would be a big breakthrough!!!
By: tehreem on September 1, 2008
at 2:00 pm
Yep, it has the potential to help many people.
By: scienceguy288 on September 1, 2008
at 2:20 pm