Genetically Modified Common Marmosets as a Model for Human Deafness
Why are some people unable to hear from birth—even though their inner ear appears to be intact? One possible cause lies in the so-called OTOF gene. It plays a central role in transmitting sound signals from the hair cells to the auditory nerve. If this function is missing, acoustic information does not reach the brain. Researchers from the German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, together with University Medical Center Göttingen and the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, have now generated common marmosets in which this gene was specifically knocked out for the first time. The animals are healthy and develop normally, but are deaf from birth. This provides the first primate model that realistically represents key forms of human deafness (Nature Communications).
Copyright: DPZ/Katharina Diederich
