Revolutionary Gene Therapy Opens New Path for Restoring Hearing
Researchers have discovered a new method to deliver gene therapy into the inner ear by utilizing the natural flow of cerebrospinal fluid through a little understood passage called the cochlear aqueduct. By injecting an adeno-associated virus into the cerebrospinal fluid, the researchers were able to deliver a gene therapy that repaired inner ear hair cells and restored hearing in adult deaf mice. This breakthrough could pave the way for future gene therapies to restore hearing in humans with genetic-mediated hearing loss.