Deafness gene discovered by scientists

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DeafCaver

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I don't know if this has been posted here or not before... if so then a tag should've been used to make the search easier... still interesting article... but it states it's a gene causing older/elderly people to go deaf... what about those who are BORN deaf or become deaf soon after birth? Are there genes for that?
I know of one family who have had successive generations for a LONG time. Great-grandparents being deaf and every generation since born deaf. So is it genetic... one would think so.
Read on


Deafness gene discovered by scientists
A gene that causes deafness in the elderly has been identified by scientists.
Published: 7:00AM GMT 10 Nov 2009
The findings will help doctors better understand the nature of age-related decline in hearing and may lead to new therapies to prevent or treat the condition.
The gene is a protein called Bak that makes hair cells in the inner ear self-destruct as people grow older.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that removing the gene in mice prevented the death of these cells and stopped deafness developing in the animals.
Tests on five and 15 month old mice found those who had the protein knocked out had much better hearing than mice whose genes were left alone.
Most mice display at least some degree of age-related-hearing loss (AHL) and the age of onset varies from three months to 20 months.
more of the story http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6533116/Deafness-gene-discovered-by-scientists.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6533116/Deafness-gene-discovered-by-scientists.html
Click to expand...
 
There are several genes already identified that can cause deafness at birth.
 
DeafCaver said:
I don't know if this has been posted here or not before... if so then a tag should've been used to make the search easier... still interesting article... but it states it's a gene causing older/elderly people to go deaf... what about those who are BORN deaf or become deaf soon after birth? Are there genes for that?
I know of one family who have had successive generations for a LONG time. Great-grandparents being deaf and every generation since born deaf. So is it genetic... one would think so.
Read on
Click to expand...

Hi! I searched for "deaf gene" because I have a particular interest in Genetics. Anyway, Switzerland is working with that. There are many deaf genes and all, if not most, already has been found. I'm pretty stoked about it.
 
ChandaMija said:
Hi! I searched for "deaf gene" because I have a particular interest in Genetics. Anyway, Switzerland is working with that. There are many deaf genes and all, if not most, already has been found. I'm pretty stoked about it.
Click to expand...

There are over 1,000 known and characterized genes that are involved with hearing loss. More are discovered every year.

I think it is awesome that you get excited about genetics! So do I! I have found that the more I learn (beyond introductory courses) the more I realize that literally anything is possible in terms of genetics.
Today, for my medical genetics course (medical and graduate school course) I read about a syndrome that blew my mind. It is called XX male syndrome. I thought it was a typo but portions of the Y chromosome can become entangled in the X chromosome in guys at conception and they end up being male but they have 2 Xchromosomes. It is just that the Y chromosome got mixed with the X.
That is just one example of the crazy things that happen in genetics that totally break what we were taught in high school genetics.

The more you learn the more you realize that we know nothing.
 
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