Posted on: 28 October 2023, source: Science
Several deaf children can hear after receiving gene therapy—a first for the approach—a team at Fudan University reported today at a meeting in Belgium. The children were born deaf because they inherited two defective copies of the gene for a protein called otoferlin that helps the inner ear’s hair cells transmit sound to the brain. In an attempt to restore this function, researchers injected harmless viruses carrying DNA for a working copy of the otoferlin gene into the children’s ears. Four of five patients treated now have some hearing, the MIT Technology Review reports.