Stem Cells May Be Key To Deafness Cure

(CBS)  In a dusty, cluttered lab at Stanford University, a team of young scientists is on a quest. Curing deafness is the goal, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin, and Stefan Heller says stem cells hold the key.

Heller and his entire team were recruited away from Harvard, and they've made a breakthrough discovery: They've found that stem cells have the capacity to regenerate in the inner ear.

The stem cells are especially good at growing into the microscopic hair cells that make hearing possible.

"It's like a little microphone in your ear," Heller says of the hair cells, "and when the microphones go bad, then you don't hear anymore. We can grow these tiny microphones from these stem cells."

Heller and his colleagues have figured out how to inject stem cells into the ears of mouse embryos and watch them grow. Their next step is to try it in live mice.

"I hope that in five years, we are at a point that we can say that it is possible to cure deafness, at least in an animal," Heller says. "That will be the first step toward treating human patients."

There are an estimated 28 million Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing. Many of them get by with hearing aids and surgically implanted cochlear implants. But Heller and his team believe that stem cells have the potential to eliminate even the best technology we have.

"So what you're saying is if we can restore something to its natural state, why not?" asks Kaledin.

"Why not," responds Heller. "Exactly."

[chemgem]

At the age of 46 I lost all of my hearing in both ears. I have been lucky to receive a CI,,,but wow...please sign me up for this asap......I will even be your Guinea Pig..lol. I can't tell you how much I really really miss hearing "real" music. Sigh.......Please keep up the good work on your resource so you can quickly prefect this surgery....
All my Best Wishes, Jan

[ash43_saxena]

my son aged 3yrs and 4 months now, is candidate for profound hearing loss, i will be happy to know any more information about the stem cells treatment in this case. Please email me the updates on [e-mail]

[kat1783]

I am almost 23 years old. My parents found out that I was hard of hearing when I was about 3 and I have had one hearing aid in my right ear because I can't hear anything out of my left. Since about ninth grade, I have had a significant drop in my hearing. I did have a CT scan to see if it was a tumor or something that was causing the drops. What was found is that I have abnormal cochleas. I hope that this study will also benefit those who don't qualify for the cochlea implant.

[eo232323]

Great news! My 23 year old daughter was born with "Mundini" syndrome where the window to her inner ear was not completely covered. As a result her inner ear dried, resulting in the loss of the hair cells. It sounds like her condition may be the perfect case for this application. Please keep us informed of all developments in this area. We will also be happy to participate in any clinical research work. Thanks!

[ashalosky]

My son has profound hearing loss in his right ear caused by damage to his auditory nerve from a brain tumor that was surgically removed. He has moderate loss in the left ear; cause is unknown. It appears that he has auditory nerve damage to both ears. Is this research capable of healing the auditory nerve with stem cells? We had banked his and his sister's cord blood at their births. We wonder if this resesarch may enable us to repair his auditory nerves with their cord blood stem cells. Could you please contact me if your research includes repairing the auditory nerve with stem cells? Thank you!!! Amy at: [e-mail] or [e-mail].

[trcarlton26]

When I was 17 I was diagnosed with NF2. It was discovered because I went deaf in my left ear. Now, 13 years later, I am also almost completely deaf in my right in ear. I have a hearing aid but I have to rely on lip reading and I miss A LOT. I have long thought that stem cell research could be the answer to my prayers. My doctors are at Barnes Hosp./Washington Univ. School of Medicine in St. Louis. If there is a mailing list of some type to receive future updates, my email address is [e-mail].

[architekker-2009]

I am 35 years old and I have been hard of hearing since birth. My mother discovered that I am moderate hearing loss when I was 3 years old. I went to school for the deaf, Deaf college (Gallaudet University) and Grad. from Louisiana Tech University (Architecture). I have been having a difficult time talking with several people on the phone wishing I am able to hear well without repeating "pardon me or please repeat". My wife is an interpretor for the Deaf and speach pathologist. We have three kids and I always wanted to understand what they are trying to tell me. I tried to encorage them to sign to me, but I talked too much. I can talk very well, but hearing loss is moderate to severe is bit problem. I would love to be on the list. My email is [e-mail]

[triedit10]

I have 1/3 of one ear left. I have been this deaf since 1971, when I lost the use of my right ear. Up 'til then, I'd had 1/2 of each ear from the time I was 2 yrs old. Even with the ringing in my ear(s), I still prefer music to silence, as there is plenty of noise in my head even when the room is perfectly silent. Understanding speech is a tough proposition. If there's a list, put me on it. I'm [e-mail]

[rosina119]

My husband has been deaf since he was 3yrs old. (49 now).We have been married for 21 yrs. I have watched his hearing slowly decrease to almost 0%. The report was excellent. How do we get more info.on this stem cell research? I hope it gives people the ability and the blessing of sound.We have tryed everything,but when we live week to week on one income how will people be able to afford something like this? How can he register for this stem cell research?Plese e-mail [e-mail]

[paulagem]

If the federal government weren't throwing up roadblocks this treatment might be available in a year or two, but as it is, the researchers say five years - and that will be at the testing stage, not the stage where your insurance will cover it routinely.

Call your representatives in Washington and ask them to do something about Bush's stem cell veto.