Showing posts with label “hair cells”. Show all posts
Showing posts with label “hair cells”. Show all posts

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Human Beings To Get Rid Of Deafness?

We often make fun of people who are deaf or at least short of hearing. But we all know that actually it is not funny. Just think of the plight that our deaf friends have to go through. While we complain of sound pollution, they are forced to live in a world that is disturbingly silent.

However, now there seems to be a ray of hope for these hapless people. An international team led by Stanford University School of Medicine is reported to have identified a way to re-create the sensitive hair cells. Hair cells are the ones which play a key role in hearing. The team has claimed that it has found a way to re-create the hair cells by using stem cell technology. And the team further claims that this finding can lead to a way wherein the deaf people can regenerate their own inner ear sensory cells to cure the condition.

It may be mentioned here that all sorts of hearing loss (ranging from mild to serious) often result from damage to the “hair cells” in the cochlea. And what is cochlea? Well, it is an organ that lies deep inside the human ear, and is responsible for converting vibrations into electrical signals.