ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- University of Michigan scientists have restored hearing in deafened adult guinea pigs, the first successful operation of its kind on mammals.
The breakthrough that could lead to help for millions of Americans with acquired hearing loss, the Detroit News reported Sunday.
The scientists at the university's medical school built on 11 years of research to use gene therapy to grow hair cells in deafened guinea pigs. The hair cells, named for the microscopic hair-like projections that grow from each cell, are sensory cells found in part of the inner ear. Once damaged through infection, aging or other factors, auditory hair cells can't pick up sound waves to help send messages to the brain, and hearing is impaired.
Study leader Yehoash Raphael, an associate professor of otolaryngology at U-M's Kresge Hearing Research Institute, said restoring hearing loss in humans is still years off, but the results of the guinea pig study reflect a major step forward. The results were published last week in the journal Nature Medicine.
