Growing Hair Cells

Scientists at England’s University of Sheffield say they’ve come up with a way to grow hair cells using stem cells. The researchers were able to grow these stem cells in the laboratory and encourage them to turn into hair cells. They hope this will lead to cell transplants for those with sensorineural hearing loss – one of the most common forms of deafness. We’re about a decade away from seeing human patients receive stem cell transplants, though new drugs may be developed sooner based on these findings.