GROWING sound-detecting hair cells from embryonic stem cells is the latest advance in the race to develop an alternative to cochlear implants for treating some forms of deafness.
Stefan Heller鈥檚 team at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston generated the hair cells by exposing mouse embryonic stem cells to the chemical factors that a normal hair cell would encounter. The cells developed into normal-looking hair cells when implanted in chicken embryos (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/ pnas.2334503100).
Another group has shown that gene therapy can turn other inner ear cells into hair cells (New 杏吧原创, 7 June, p 15). The advantage of using embryonic stem cells is that great numbers of hair cells could be grown, but unlike gene therapy there could be problems with rejection. And so far no one has proved that new hair cells can restore hearing. But Heller鈥檚 hair cells do form connections with nerve cells when grown in the same dish.
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