Harvard Researchers Restore Hair Cells With New Drug LY41175

[Ferret]

I suppose this is, in a very crude way (at the moment), what science is trying to do.

I'm okay with crude science, hehe. Crude science is what put humans on the moon, and also how we discovered the Higgs-Boson particle

 

[Nick Pyzik]

I understand.
This reminds me of an article in the Dominion Post in New Zealand where I was at the time.
In February 2005 they quoted from the Loss Angeles Times.
"Researchers restored hearing in deaf animals for the first time by inserting a corrective gene with a virus in the cochlea to induce the formation of hair cells."
The article was closed with stating that it would be at least a decade before the technique could be tried in humans.
We all know that Genvec/Novartis started this trial in humans in 2014.
So this was one prediction that was quit accurate.

But the more I read about the challenge the more I understand the complexity. I wish we could do a copy and paste using the mechanism in birds.
I suppose this is, in a very crud way (at the moment), what science is trying to do. And human hearing and comprehension/interpreting can not be compared with birds.

The issue with the mechanism with birds or some types of animals is that the regenerated hair cells aren't perfectly designed like the hair cells are in an animal or human being that hasn't damaged them. I was reading that a few months ago and it shocked me. There was an article talking about that with a picture as an example but I'm having trouble finding it. I'll post it if I can.

 

[Reinier]

Like I said earlier: the more I read, the more problems I see. Initially I figured: "if only science is able to understand the mechanism that happens in birds and fish, which seems to have been lost somewhere in mammals during evolution". Understand and copy this for humans.
Now I am starting to see it is very complicated.
I also read that the hair cells and the location in the cochlea of these regenerated hair cells is not perfect. What I found very positive news is that when the hair cells form also neurons connect. I don't understand why this happens but this must be positive.

I read this article @Nick Pyzik mentioned, about neurons forming and connecting again to hair cells spontaneous. Apparently this only just has been discovered in 2015. But I want to remain positive. I still believe that Hearing Health Foundation, Action On Hearing Loss, Harvard, Stanford, other universities and particularly private companies are putting in the effort and money because they must have concluded that hearing restoration could be feasible.
For private companies I feel that assessing on forehand is paramount. If investing in a venture (hearing restoration) is able to generate a return, is one of the most important steps in the whole process of deciding whether to step in or leave it.
I am not sure why I made the grammar so complicated