We all have tiny hairs inside of our ears, and these hairs are doing important work: they convert sounds into electrical signals that can be interpreted by the brain. If these hairs are not doing what they need to do, deafness is the result, and this problem is behind roughly half of cases of hearing loss in early life. Now, scientific teams in the US and Switzerland have developed a genetically modified virus that could infect these hair cells and correct the error. Their work was tested on deaf mice, and injections of the virus into their ears led to a substantial improvement in hearing. The scientists think that this new therapy to treat hereditary deafness in humans could be available within five years.
Scientists take a significant step towards treating some forms of deafness
More of Today's Solutions
Archeologists discover the Sistine Chapel of the Ancients in the Amazon
The world of archaeology has just been stunned with the recent discovery of one of the world’s largest collections of prehistoric paintings, stretching across ...
Read MoreResistance training fights muscle loss. Here are 3 ways to do more of it
We've know for a while that resistance training is key to longevity and health. In a recent study, researchers found that resistance training was ...
Read MoreThe Bison Bridge – World’s longest human-made wildlife crossing
Chad Pregracke is an impassioned conservationist who spends his time on barges, cleaning up refuse from the Mississippi River. While on the river, he ...
Read MoreTiny spas for endangered frogs battling fatal fungi
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Biologists devised a novel approach to tackle a fatal fungal illness that threatens amphibians worldwide. These specially designed ...
Read More
