At the University of Sheffield a new technique has been discovered by Dr. Rivolta and his research team that could potentially restore hearing in deaf humans. Currently, treatment to restore deafness is very limited with cochlear implants being the only cure available. While these devices are effective in restoring hearing, a full hearing range is unachievable. It is therefore likely that an auditory organ with potential applications to erase hearing loss, be used for “studying the development of human cochlear neurons and hair cells, as models for drug screening and helping to develop cell-based therapies for deafness’ (4) would enhance the quality of life for the estimated 22 million to 36 million people who are deaf and hard of hearing (1).
As ‘hair cells are responsible for turning sound into electrical impulses that can be carried to the brain’ (3) this stem cell experiment involves isolating cochlea cells and manipulating them into sensory hair cells by maintaining them in vitro for up to one year. The stem cells that are used in this experiment are obtained from ‘9-11 week old human fetuses (3)” as the cells required for this particular study ‘disappear rapidly after birth’ (4).
Currently Dr. Rivolta is conducting experimentation on animals in order to establish whether the transplantation of these cells will restore hearing but it could take up to 10years before this procedure will be available to human patients.
Student number: 420550185
Reference list:
1. Berke, J. 2007, Statistically, How Many Deaf or Hard of Hearing? [Online], Available: http://deafness.about.com/cs/earbasics/a/demographics.htm [2009, March 30]
2. Dictionary.com, 2009, Cochlea, [Online], Available: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Cochlea [2009, March 30]
3. Gray, R. 2009, Hair cells grown from stem cells could restore hearing to the deaf, [Online], Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/5066549/Hairs-grown-from-stem-cells-could-restore-hearing-to-the-deaf.html [2009, March 30]
4. The Times of India, 2009, Stem cell therapy may treat deafness, [Online], Available: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lifestyle/Stem-cell-therapy-may-treat-deafness/articleshow/4330632.cms [2009, March 30]
