Jøsseball! Mirakler i påsken?

For en liten stund siden skrev jeg et innlegg om stamcelleforskning og hørselskade. Forskere hadde klart å gjenskape sensorhår og hørselnerver i marsvin og rotter, men det var ikke gjort for menneske-celler. Utrolig nok, i går kom nyheten om at dette nå har blitt gjennomført med suksess. Så til alle eksisterende og potensielt hørselskadde her inne, her er de gode nyhetene: :)

"Scientists make hearing loss cure breakthrough
Thursday, 02 Apr 2009 07:33

Scientists have made a major breakthrough towards using stem cells as a treatment for hearing loss.

Researchers at the University of Sheffield managed to isolate human stem cells and discovered how to turn them into either cells that behave like sensory hair cells or auditory neurons.

The researchers claim the cells could now be used to help restore hearing.

At present there is no way to repair cells which detect sounds once they've been damaged. The authors of the recent research suggest that, for the first time, there is now a system based on human cells for testing new therapies in the laboratory.

Lead researcher and senior research fellow at the University of Sheffield, Dr Marcelo Rivolta, said in a statement: "The potential of stem cells is very exciting. We have now an experimental system to study genes and drugs in a human context.

"Moreover, these cells would help us to develop the technologies needed to deliver them into damaged tissues, such as the cochlea, in order to restore the different cell types. This should facilitate the development of a stem cell treatment for deafness."

Dr Ralph Holme, director of biomedical research at RNID, added: "Stem cell therapy for hearing loss is still some years away but this research is incredibly promising and opens up exciting possibilities by bringing us closer to restoring hearing in the future.""