In 10 patients with a specific form of deafness*
In 10 patients
In 10 out of 10 people tested, so that’s pretty good.
with a specific form of deafness*
Yeah, one specific genetic defect. They’re looking into others now so hopefully this is just the start.
It is still pretty amazing and life changing for the recipients.
No doubt, just wanted to put that sensationalized headline into context.
They did qualify it with the adjective “small” and quantified it by stating there were 10 patients. I mean, it doesn’t look to me like they are trying to make grand claims unsupported by their work.
About 200,000 people worldwide.
Yes, absolutely. This has some major implications for thousands. I should have been more clear that I’m not saying this is bunk, just that it is in a small number, limited to a specific kind of deafness, and side effects haven’t been fully studied.
I’m in no way trying to discredit what was achieved, I just hate this level of clickbait title.
The study comprised ten patients between the ages of 1 and 24 at five hospitals in China, all of whom had a genetic form of deafness or severe hearing impairment caused by mutations in a gene called OTOF. These mutations cause a deficiency of the protein otoferlin, which plays a critical part in transmitting auditory signals from the ear to the brain.
Source1: news.ki.se/gene-therapy-restored-hearing-in-deaf-patients [2025-07-02; web-archive]
Source2: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47641713
