A promising new study out of the University of Sheffield in England has linked the use of human stem cells to restored hearing in deaf gerbils. During the course of the study, the rodents’ hearing ability had improved by an average of 46 percent, with recovery ranging from modest to almost complete, the researchers reported.
A
promising new study out of the University of Sheffield in England has linked
the use of human stem cells to restored hearing in deaf gerbils. In the study,
scientists deadened the nerve cells that transmit information from the ear to
the brain to make the control gerbils deaf in one ear. The experiment was aimed
at replacing those cells. Gerbils were used in the study because they hear a
similar range of sounds as humans do.
Human
embryonic stem cells can be manipulated in lab cultures to grow and produce any
type of cell. The stem cells in the study were coaxed to develop into embryonic
ear cells that have the
possibility to develop further into either hair cells or auditory nerve cells.
Those were then transplanted into the deaf ears of 18 gerbils with damaged
auditory nerves, and allowed to differentiate further.
Ten
weeks later, the rodents' hearing ability had improved by an average of 46
percent, with recovery ranging from modest to almost complete, the researchers
reported. While the experiment focused on a form of deafness that affects fewer
than 15 percent of hearing-impaired people, scientists hope that the approach
can eventually be broadened to treat more common forms of deafness.
To read a variety of articles on the study,
click here.