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Hearing, vision in animals restored
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-20 07:51

WASHINGTON: Stem cells from tiny embryos can be used to restore lost hearing and vision in animals, researchers said on Tuesday in what they believe is a first step toward helping people.

One team repaired hearing in guinea pigs using human bone marrow stem cells, while another grew functioning eyes in tadpoles using frog cells.

While there are no immediate uses for humans, they said their findings help describe some of the most basic biological processes underlying the development of hearing and sight, and may help in the development of the new field of regenerative medicine.

Doctor Sujeong Jang of Chonnam National University in Gwang-ju, South Korea, and colleagues used mesenchymal stem cells from human bone marrow to restore hearing in guinea pigs whose hearing had been destroyed using chemicals.

They grew the stem cells into neuron-like cells in lab dishes and then transplanted them into the inner ears of the guinea pigs. Three months later, the animals appeared to have some hearing, Jang told a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

Michael Zuber and colleagues at the SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, grew functioning eyes in blinded frog embryos using stem cells.

When they transplanted the transformed cells into frog embryos, the resulting tadpoles could see out of those eyes, Zuber told the meeting.