Although existing technology helps produce an artificial hair cell, it does not differentiate into an inner or outer cell, which provides different essential functions to produce hearing. A new study finally discovers the
When the gene is expressed, the cell becomes an inner hair cell. When the gene is blocked, the cell becomes an outer hair cell.
“We can now figure out how to make specifically inner or outer hair cells and identify why the later are more prone to dying and cause deafness,” says lead study author Jaime Garcia-Anoveros at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
The team further plans to reprogram the supporting cells, and provide them with structural support, into outer or inner hair cells.
Source: Medindia
