‘Impressive’ trial results for experimental gene therapy for deafness

O. Rose Broderick reports on the health policies and technologies that govern people with disabilities’ lives. Before coming to STAT, she worked at WNYC’s Radiolab and Scientific American, and her story debunking a bogus theory about transgender kids was nominated for a 2024 GLAAD Media Award. You can reach Rose on Signal at rosebroderick.11.

Three years after researchers first injected deaf children with a treatment designed to give them hearing, an early scientific consensus is emerging: This gene therapy works.

A team of researchers published on Wednesday the most promising results to date: In a clinical trial in China, 90% of participants reported significant improvement in their hearing after receiving an injection. The therapy even improved hearing in a few adults, including a 32-year-old. The results were published in Nature.

“In some patients, the hearing improved so well that they can hear whispers,” said Zheng-Yi Chen, a study author and Mass Eye and Ear otolaryngologist. “To reach a stage where you can hear normal conversation, it’s mind-boggling.”