New Ear-a

Inside our ears lies a very sophisticated system, responsible not only for our hearing but also for detecting motion and keeping our balance. To do this, the cells of the inner ear use sensory hairs, or stereocilia, which bend in response to vibrations, triggering a cascade of events to send a signal to the brain. Researchers have recently managed to generate these sensory cells from mouse embryonic stem cells, by treating them with a series of molecules known to be necessary for their development. The finished cells, pictured in red, with their nuclei in blue and bundles of stereocilia in green, have all the characteristics of cells found in the vestibular apparatus, the region of the inner ear involved in perceiving movement. Growing these cells in the laboratory will help further our understanding of inner ear development, as well as test potential treatments of diseases affecting hearing and balance.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Emmanuelle Briolat

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A researcher specialising in visual signals in Lepidoptera, camouflage and the effects of light pollution, Emmanuelle’s writing covers a range of topics, from biomedical research to children’s books about moth defences.

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• Karl R. Koehler
• Indiana University School of Medicine
• Reprinted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: Nature Communications Copyright 2013
• Published in Nature