Delivering healthy genetic material into the inner ear cells of mice with a genetic defect that causes deafness enables the cells to function normally, according to a new study from Tel Aviv University (TAU).
The novel treatment prevented the gradual deterioration of hearing in these mice. It could lead to a breakthrough in treating children born with various mutations that eventually cause deafness.
The study, led by Prof. Karen Avraham of the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Sagol School of Neuroscience, was published in EMBO Molecular Medicine on December 22.
Deafness is the most common sensory disability worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, about half a billion people have hearing loss and this figure is expected to double in the coming decades.
One in every 200 children is born with a hearing impairment, and one in every 1,000 is born deaf. In about half of these cases, deafness is caused by a genetic mutation. A hundred different genes are associated with hereditary deafness.
“In this study we focused on genetic deafness caused by a mutation in the gene SYNE4 – a rare deafness discovered by our lab several years ago in two Israeli families, and since then identified in Turkey and the UK as well,” Avraham said.-- More...
ISRAEL21c was founded in 2001, in the wake of the Second Intifada, to broaden public understanding of Israel beyond typical portrayals in the mainstream media.
The organization’s founders – Israeli-American technology executives – understood the great power of the Internet and developed a first-of-its kind online product with global appeal and reach.
