seaanemone

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  • Cymothoa exigua, Wikimedia Commons

    Sea anemones could be the key to treating hearing loss

    by 
    Jon Fingas
    Jon Fingas
    08.15.2016

    Sea anemones could soon do a lot to help those of us living above the water. Researchers have discovered that proteins used by starlet sea anemones to repair their cells also repair the sound-sensing cells in mice and other mammals. If you bathe cells in those proteins for long enough (the team tried for an hour), they rapidly restore molecular links that bundle hearing-related hair cells together. In theory, you could reverse hearing damage among cells that haven't been permanently lost -- that exceptionally loud concert might not permanently limit your listening enjoyment.