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Here's today's feel-good story:
Scientists are now able to create new hearing cells that can overcome deafness that is caused by aging.
The production of these inner or outer ear hair cells is considered a "major hurdle" in reversing hearing loss.
The single gene, known as TBX2, can change ear cells into sensory hair cells.
“We have overcome a major hurdle,” says Professor Jaime Garcia-Anoveros of Northwestern University. “It’s like a ballet… The ear is a beautiful organ. There is no other organ in a mammal where the cells are so precisely positioned with micrometric precision. Otherwise, hearing doesn’t occur.”