But he will never understand language: boy (11) cured of congenital deafness thanks to gene therapy

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Aissam Dam (11) grew up in a world without noise. Since birth, the deaf boy heard nothing and lived in complete silence. The Moroccan, who never went to school in his home country, could only communicate with a sign language he invented himself. He suffers from a genetic defect that affects approximately 200,000 people worldwide. His deafness was never treated until a year ago.

The boy was the first person in the US to start a therapy that is still in the research phase. The New York Times reports this. At a children’s hospital in Philadelphia, the treatment involved replacing a single gene responsible for deafness with an intact version.

After several months of therapy, Aissam Dam can now hear almost normally. But he will probably never be able to understand the language or speak it himself, experts say. According to the report, the brain has a chance to learn language: it starts in the second or third year of life – after the fifth it is closed forever.

Researchers also want to treat younger children

Even though the boy will probably never be able to communicate in spoken language, the newly acquired hearing ability can help him better assess traffic situations or similar situations. Moreover, Moroccans can now listen to music. “There is no sound I don’t like,” the boy says enthusiastically with the help of an interpreter. He now knows sign language.

It is an important step for scientists. According to the New York Times, nearly half a dozen trials of this therapy are currently underway or about to begin. After the recent success with Aissam Dam, researchers increasingly want to treat younger children. According to Manny Simons, director of the participating company Akouos, the inner ear is a small, closed space; the gene therapy used there therefore has no effect on cells in other parts of the body.

But implementation currently remains difficult: the majority of children born with this deafness received cochlear hearing implants at a young age. According to the report, they would no longer be relevant for such therapy. (gs)

Source: Blick