New science lets deaf children hear - 18th March 2024

Five deaf children can now hear because of a new gene therapy.

Scientists in the US and China cooperated on the research, which treated 6 deaf children. The children were aged between 1 and 7 years old. They all had an unusual OTOF gene, which produces a special protein. This protein's necessary for the ear and brain to communicate.

Gene therapy uses a virus to deliver healthy DNA to cells. This is called a viral vector. Scientists normally use one viral vector to take DNA to a cell. But, the OTOF gene was too large for one virus to carry.

The scientists cut the gene in half and used two viral vectors. They put these viruses into the patient's ear. The viruses inserted the DNA into the cells. They started producing the missing protein.

5 out of the 6 children showed a big improvement in their hearing after 26 weeks. 1.6 billion people have hearing problems. Most of these are from noise damage, but others are born deaf. 200,000 people have the problem that this research investigated. Because this number is quite small, the research may not interest pharmaceutical companies.

But the scientists are positive. They hope US regulators will approve their treatment.