The genes that cause age-related hearing loss
Deafness Research UK scientists working at the UCL Ear Institute are trying to identify genes that cause age-related deafness.
[Post-doctoral Research Fellowship, 2007-2010]
Many people lose their hearing as they get older. In fact, more than a third of people over the age of 60 are gradually losing their hearing. To a large extent the causes of age-related hearing loss remain unstudied, partly since it has been considered a normal part of ageing but also because until recently we had very little understanding of how the ear works.
Unlike congenital deafness, where one gene mutation will cause a person to be born with a hearing loss, it is believed that the genetics of age-related deafness is much more complicated. Variations in several genes together with environmental or lifestyle factors most likely combine to cause many people to lose their hearing as they age.
A Deafness Research Fellowship has recently been awarded to Dr Sally Dawson at The Ear Institute, UCL to carry out a study on the genetics of age-related hearing loss. As part of the 'The Haigh Fellowship in age related deafness', Dr Lisa Nolan, a post-doctoral researcher in the Dawson lab, will carry out this important research. The study aims to identify the reasons why some people inherit a greater risk of hearing loss.
The researchers will test whether common differences in genes known to be important in hearing alter the way the gene works. They will look at changes in genes which have been associated with hearing loss and investigate the effect these variations or mutations have on the function of the genes in cell culture. Once they have identified any such changes they aim to see if these changes are associated with hearing loss in the ageing population which would suggest that they are partly responsible for the hearing loss. For this analysis they will use a DNA collection from patients with age-related hearing loss, which is being built up in conjunction with the Royal Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital adjoining the Ear Institute.
Lead researcher Dr Dawson said of the study: "The aim of this research is to understand what is happening in those people who lose their hearing as they age, once we know this we can begin to develop ways to stop this process or prevent it happening. This would be a major achievement in improving the quality of life of millions of individuals."
