According to US scientists, Gene therapy, which is likely to restore hearing in mice, may prove helpful in humans too.

The scientists found that gene transfer developed functioning hair cells that are considered essential for the inner ear to interpret sounds.

People who have normal hearing their cochlear hair cells can turn sound into electrical signals that are transmitted to the brain. If the cells are lost or damaged once, they

Once the cells are lost or damaged, they cannot be replaced naturally.

Statistics from the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) reveal that there are almost nine million people in the UK who are hard of hearing or entirely deaf and most of these people lose their hearing gradually with increasing age. Most of these cases occur due to loss in cochlear hair cells or exposure to loud noise that damages hair cells.

The team from Oregon Health and Science University found that gene therapy could be used to encourage other cells to replace hair cells at least in mice.

In Gene therapy a harmless virus is used to insert copies of the key gene into cells that are replicated afterward.

Oregon team used Atoh1 as key gene that is considered essential for hair cell development. The researchers found that the cells that were treated with Atoh1 functioned somewhat similar to original hair cells.

Does it work in humans? It’s still a moot question, but these findings are encouraging to show a way to repair damaged hair cells without mechanical or electrical device.