Genetic deafness and gene therapy approaches for treatment

Deafness affects more than 28 million people in European countries and a similar number in the USA. At present, a cochlear implant is the only option to treat deafness but it is expensive and not all kinds of deafness benefit from a cochlear implant. Gene therapy promises to be a clinically useful method to cure deafness, in particular genetic deafness. Thus, the present review will focus on the mechanisms underlying genetic deafness and possible treatment measures using gene therapy in the near future.

Section editor:Richard Smith – University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA