An 18-month-old in London, England, is one of the youngest children to receive gene therapy to treat hearing loss caused by a mutation in the OTOF gene. This gene produces a protein called Otoferlin that allows for communication between cells of the cochlea and the brain.

The recipient received an infusion of a functional copy of the OTOF in her ear. The procedure was completed in just 16 minutes. Reportedly, it only took a few weeks for the child to begin to hear and respond to sounds without the help of her cochlear implant.

Read the full article

References

Afzali K. (2024) Toddler born deaf can hear after gene therapy trial breakthrough her parents call “mind-blowing.”CBS News(accessed May 13, 2024).

Share this

Related Posts

Tympanostomy Tubes Found in the Middle Ear Space: A Case Report

Cochlear Implant Satisfaction 

Mental Health Treatment by Adults in the United States

Recent Posts

Q4 SPAN Meeting to Focus on the ASLP-IC Compact

The American Academy of Audiology’s State Policy Advocate Network (SPAN) will hold its fourth-quarter meeting on October 28, 2026, from 8:00–9:00 pm ET. The meeting…

Read More
Close-up of a woman examining her ear, highlighting audiology and hearing health services.

Tympanostomy Tubes Found in the Middle Ear Space: A Case Report

The placement of pressure equalization (PE) tubes is common procedure and often used for management of otitis media with effusion (OME), recurrent acute otitis media…

Read More

Cochlear Implant Satisfaction 

Approximately 118,000 adults and 65,000 children in the United States have cochlear implants (CI) (National Institutes of Health, 2021). Most CIs require an external processor,…

Read More