Can Gene Therapy Stop The Progression Of Hearing Loss?

Living with a sister who is hard of hearing, I know about the challenges that families face when their loved one is affected with this disability. Not only has my sister had to receive special treatment in school and workplace, but it has always been difficult to communicate with her as I do with the rest of my family. When I visit her at school, I enter into a new world full of deaf students who have complete hearing loss, and the communication barrier is evident. Researchers, Karen B. Avrahmam and Yehoash Raphael have discovered that gene therapy could be used as a protective measure against the nerve cells of the inner ear from hearing loss. Their study focuses on the connexin 26 gene, which is the most prevalent cause of hearing loss in humans. The study shows that a brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which is a protein growth factor used to protect and maintain neurons, could be used to block this degeneration from occurring. They are using mice for research on this idea. First they create a virus the body can handle that doesn’t cause disease and then inject the BDNF into the virus. Then they inject the virus into the ears of the mice. The protein was found to actually protect the neurons in the inner ear! This discovery may be used with hearing aids such as cochlear implants to improve hearing. Cochlear implants are surgically implanted electronic devices that provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or has severe hearing loss. This new discovery will hopefully lead to different ways to help people suffering from hearing loss and potentially stop its progression.