Stem cells may help cure deafness

LONDON, April 2 (UPI) -- Stem-cell research has led to what British scientists are calling a "major breakthrough" in the hunt for a cure for deafness, observers say.

The studies at the University of Sheffield in England raise hopes for a cure after the cells vital for hearing were grown in a laboratory, the Times of London reported Thursday.

Scientists hope that further work will lead to functional cells that could be implanted into the ears to treat total hearing loss. The investigative team has now started the next stage of research on animals.

Any practical treatments for deafness are believed to be at least a decade away but cells could also provide useful research tools for studying the causes of deafness and testing new drugs, researchers say.

"The potential of stem cells is very exciting," says Marcelo Rivolta, who led the study at the University of Sheffield. "We have now an experimental system to study genes and drugs in a human context."

Almost nine million people across Britain are deaf or hard of hearing. About 90 percent of all cases are due to loss of sensory hair cells and, to some extent, the brain cells that are associated with hearing.