In the next month, they will begin searching for about 45 volunteers who have severe hearing loss, most likely caused by the side effects of drugs. This group will have lost a large number of hair cells, but will still have supporting structures, such as neurons, present in the inner ear. "The biggest risk is that we interfere with residual hearing, so we're starting with people who have lost almost all hearing already," says Klickstein. People between the ages of 18 and 70 will be eligible for the trial. Those who are born deaf won't be because they often don't have the structures needed to support hair cells. Staecker estimates that the approach could help 1 to 2 per cent of all people with hearing loss, up to 7 million people in the US... Many other species, such as fish and birds, can regenerate the hair cells in their inner ear over time and create new auditory circuits, says Klickstein. "We're just trying to tweak the mammalian system a little bit to do what a lot of other species do naturally".
Deaf people get gene tweak to restore natural hearing
