Deafness commonly begins in early childhood, which damages a child’s ability to learn language and speech. It is the most common disorder of the senses, and over time, affected children often lose their hearing over time. Scientists know little about why this happens, so the chances of finding a cure or prevention are slim.
Childhood deafness is usually caused by defects in just one gene, so one scientist discovered a way to give mice this gene. His team can now gain insight from these mice on how deafness progresses in children. They plan to closely study the mice, who are developing the same hearing problems as children.
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