Ear cell research may help cure deafness and balance

Faulty hearing and balance in Australians could be restored to normal due to breakthrough ear cell research which is being carried out at the Ear Science Institute Australia in Perth.

The WA researchers say they have created an alternative to stem cell technology for growing human cells after they had grown inner ear cells taken from an adult patient at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

Researcher Professor Marcus Atlas said the cells had the potential to restore hearing and balance in those who were born deaf or had degenerative hearing diseases.

Professor Atlas said growing adult organ cells in a laboratory had been difficult in the past. “We have to give them the right environment, we need the right nutrients, the right blood supply, the right environment for these ear cells to grow in.”

To help carry out further advanced trials of the ear cell procedure, the WA researchers are seeking $15 million from the Federal Government to fund their ongoing ear cell developments.