New Research Finds Genes are a Possible Key to Better Hearing

New studies suggest that gene therapy may be beneficial in restoring hearing, as well as treating various other conditions.

Belgian scientists have identified a gene, TGBF1, responsible for otosclerosis, the most common cause of hearing loss among white adults. It causes progressive hearing impairment as the build up of growing bone in the middle ear interrupts sound waves passing to the inner ear. In the future, new findings may lead to better forms of treatment, and eventually replace the need for surgery or the use of hearing aids, currently the only treatment options available.

The University of Virginia Health System Associate Professor, Dr. Jeffrey Holt, and his colleagues researched another form of hearing impairment, resulting from aging or noise-induced loss of tiny hair cells in the inner ear. They targeted a gene known as KCNQ4, which causes genetic hearing loss when mutated, engineered a correct form of the gene, and created a gene therapy delivery system that successfully transferred the KCNQ4 into human hair cells harvested from the inner ear. Dr. Holt says the KCNQ4 therapy could be an effective way to cure hearing impairment in patients who carry mutations of that gene.



While gene therapy has been hailed by the medical and scientific community as a possible cure for a slew of illnesses and disabilities ranging from blindness to Parkinsons disease, it remains largely controversial because of possible serious side effects, in addition to budgetary constraints.

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