The Associated Press reported that a baby born with hearing loss in the UK regained his hearing through gene therapy.
The Associated Press reported that 18-month-old Opal Sandy, who had been deaf since birth and could barely hear anything, regained near-normal hearing after treating hereditary hearing loss with gene therapy.
The media reported that this baby was the first in the world to have his hearing restored through gene therapy.
Opal was born with hearing loss caused by a condition called auditory neuropathy, which interferes with the nerve impulses that carry sound to the brain.
Auditory neuropathy can be caused by a defect in the OTOF gene, which produces a protein that allows cells in the ear to communicate with the auditory nerve.
Opal’s mum Jo Sandy, who regained her hearing after surgery at Cambridge University Hospital in September last year, said: “I couldn’t believe it when the baby turned her head to the sound of applause.”
It is estimated that around 20,000 people in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and Italy suffer from auditory neuropathy caused by the same OTOF gene mutation as Opal.
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