Gene Therapy Allows an 11-Year-Old Boy to Hear for the First Time - The New York Times

The genetic treatment targeted a particular kind of congenital deafness and will soon be tried in children who are younger. By Gina Kolata Gina Kolata visited the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and met with Aissam Dam, his father and the researchers they worked with. Aissam Dam, an 11-year-old boy, grew up in a world of profound silence. He was born deaf and had never heard anything. While living in a poor community in Morocco, he expressed himself with a sign language he invented and had no schooling. Last year, after moving to Spain, his family took him to a hearing specialist, who made a surprising suggestion: Aissam might be eligible for a clinical trial using gene therapy. On Oct. 4, Aissam was treated at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, becoming the first person to get gene therapy in the United States for congenital deafness. The goal was to provide him with hearing, but the researchers had no idea if the treatment would work or, if it did, how much he would hear. T

The genetic treatment targeted a particular kind of congenital deafness and will soon be tried in children who are younger. By Gina Kolata Gina Kolata visited the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and met with Aissam Dam, his father and the researchers they worked with. Aissam Dam, an 11-year-old boy, grew up in a world of profound silence. He was born deaf and had never heard anything. While living in a poor community in Morocco, he expressed himself with a sign language he invented and had no schooling. Last year, after moving to Spain, his family took him to a hearing specialist, who made