How the Zebrafish May Cure Hearing

Loss

“I’m sorry, your hearing loss is permanent.”

For thousands of Americans each year,

hearing loss that requires help for better

communication becomes a reality.

The most common hearing loss is damage to the inner ear hair

cells, or cilia, that reside in the cochlea. The damage, called

sensorineural hearing loss, can be caused by many things, including excessive noise exposure, disease

processes, exposure to medications and due to the

“accumulation of birthdays.”

Why is sensorineural hearing loss permanent?

Once hair cells die, they cannot be replaced. They do not regrow or regenerate. These cells are the single most important part of the mechanical working part of the

ear.

If the hair cells are damaged, the

information cannot be passed on to the

hearing nerve. When someone has damaged or missing hair cells, the

result will be permanent hearing loss.

What’s being done about it?

In recent years, a research team at the University of Washington’s Merrill Bloedel Research Center has been working on finding a way to resolve the problem of

permanent hearing loss

The most recent research involves the zebrafish.

The zebrafish has hair cells running along the sides of its

body that help sense vibrations in the water.

The vibrations are converted to electrical information that is then sent to the brain. Sound familiar? Unlike human hair cells, though, the hair cells of the zebrafish are

able to regenerate when damaged.

Researchers hope to find out how the zebrafish regenerates

their hair cells and use this information to develop a way for humans to regenerate damaged

or missing hair cells.