HEARING research will be revolutionised by the discovery that inner ear cells
of mice can be grown in culture, say researchers in Britain.
The finding will help scientists pinpoint the genes responsible for ear
development, and allow them to test drugs that could treat hearing loss. If the
technique can be extended to human cells, such transplants could be used to
improve the performance of cochlear implants and perhaps even to replace damaged
cells in the ear.
Matthew Holley, now at the University of Bristol, and his colleagues isolated
cells from embryonic mouse cochleae—the parts of the inner ear that…
