What if scientists could change a single one of your genes to give you superpowers? Well, that sci-fi plot line might not be fiction much longer as researchers have basically done exactly that in mice.
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00:00What if scientists could change a single one of your genes to give you superpowers?
00:07Well, that sci-fi plotline might not be fiction much longer, as researchers have basically
00:12done exactly that in mice.
00:14University of Michigan neurobiologists changed a single gene, which is known to be integral
00:19to the expression of nerve growth related to hearing.
00:22Their previous investigations have allowed them to restore hearing in mice that was due
00:26to both aging and damage.
00:27However, this time they've increased the number of synaptic connections in the inner
00:31ear, and the results are pretty wild.
00:33They found that not only does this more or less give the mice a super sense of hearing,
00:36but their brain was able to process the new ability just fine.
00:40Finding that while they are able to hear more and perform better in behavioral tests than
00:43control mice, their startle sense still remains normal, meaning they are not overloaded with
00:48an inability to process all of the extra sound.
00:51They say this indicates that the extra synapses are also aiding with the rodents' ability
00:55to distinguish different sounds from one another as well.
00:57They say this could be a huge boon for hearing loss in humans, with the researchers saying
01:01that many hearing disorders start with loss of synapses in the brain.