Deaf toddler can hear after world-first gene therapy | DW News

a British toddler who was born deaf has had her earing her hearing rather restored by groundbreaking gene therapy researchers say that it marks a new era in the treatment of deafness ail yay she might not be a musician yet but after having her hearing restored opal can now hear the music she plays uned she was born completely death because of a genetic mutation the effect of surgery that took just 16 minutes amazed her parents go Yi CL go when we initially heard her turning to clapping that I like I was mind blown that it had worked opal has a mutation in a gene which should allow cells in the inner ear to communicate with the hearing nerve during the surgery she received an infusion which contained a working copy of the gene a harmless virus is used to carry the gene to its destination what viruses are designed to do what their purpose is is is for them to put their genetic material into cells and so um the with this attenuated adov virus we can drop a tiny little packet of genetic information into the cells and that will um provoke a change that is um lifelong we think the treat can only cure deafness that is caused by this defective Gene but researchers think it can also be effective against other genetically based diseases for opal and her family though the treatment has had a big impact allowing them to enjoy the little things like a bedtime story

A British toddler who was born deaf has had her hearing restored by groundbreaking gene therapy. Researchers say it marks a new era in the treatment of deafness.

#GeneTherapy #Deaf #Medicine

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28 comments

  4. These are the days of real miracles and wonders to paraphrase the song. Scientists, doctors, and engineers are real miracle workers. Nothing supernatural needed, yet they cause the deaf to hear. For all the bad news we are blasted with, it is still the best time to be alive in human history. I am lucky and so are you.

  8. Bad news gets millions of views and likes, good news gets only hundreds. I really appreciate the scientists of the world, thanks.

  15. Just a technicality – you can't 'restore' something that never existed. You can correct a situation that someone has had since birth – but that's not 'restoring'.

  18. 솔직히 말해서 유전자치료는 인간의 존엄을 위협할 수는 있지만 반대로 존엄을 지켜주기도 합니다.인간은 생물학적으로 진화하는 생명체고 진화하면서 유전자도 개량됩니다.자연적인 진화와 인위적 개입을 통한 진화나 차이는 있지만 존엄을 지키기위해 노력하면 할 가치가 있고 우리가 암과 뇌질환 탈모를 치료하기 위해서는 세포는 재생시키기위해 유전자가위가 필요해요.

  23. So it's a localized gene therapy? Very cool. The beauty is probably that like with mRNA vaccines, it will be possible to use any DNA sequence! We are finally starting to reap the rewards that were promised during the 90ies and early 2000s, when there was so much hype about the human genome project.

  28. That's great that that baby and her parents have been able to receive such a gift. I'll be thinking about this good news for a long time.

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