Deaf Mice Can Hear Again
Researchers have cured deafness in mice by changing DNA to remove the bad genes which cause a person to become deaf.
Which Type of Deafness?
Not all hearing loss issues are created equal, and there are many reasons that someone may become deaf.
This specific condition that the researchers were focusing on with this study was autosomal dominant deafness-50 (DFNA50).
DFNA50 is a rare genetic condition where the inner ear hairs aren’t able to develop properly and struggle to transmit sounds to the brain. If those signals don’t reach the brain, then it’s as if the sound never happened; it hasn’t been heard.
However, not only those suffering from DFNA50 will be able to benefit. More on that later.
Previous Success
The cure had previously worked well in newborn mice, but their ears hadn’t developed fully. Now, it has been successful in adult mice whose ears a fully developed and therefore a lot closer to that of a human’s ear.
Although both newborn and adult mice reacted well to the surgery, it became apparent that hearing loss was reduced to its lowest level when caught early; The newborn mice grew up to have slightly better hearing than the adults.
The Future
Zheng-Yi Chen, DPhil., and his colleagues at Mass Eye and Ear in Boston who ran the study are now confident that similar results will be seen in humans after the success in adult mice.
There are many steps beforehand as this is still early days, but it’s heading in the right direction and this is a big step forward for many people.
Other animals will need to be tested before humans are involved, but the future is looking very bright for those with DFNA50.
For now, hearing aids are necessary, but the great news is that the steps taken in this procedure can be used for other forms of hearing loss, reversing issues for many others.
