Race against time to save ear cells (Image: Fred Hossler/Getty)
DYING ear cells have been revived with a shot of gene therapy.
Ear cells have a hair-like structure that enables them to pick up sound vibrations. They are vital for hearing in mammals but are easily damaged by loud noise, which can lead to deafness.
A gene called Math1 has already been used to generate new hair cells in guinea pigs, from the supporting cells that surround them. Now at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and colleagues have shown that the same gene can repair guinea pigs’…
