Within earshot

The boots don’t fit. Ah well.

I stumbled across this article. For the first time, researchers were able to regenerate some of the hair cells in the inner ears of mice. Actual mammals. I want to jump up and down yelling at the top of my lungs, Do you know what this means?!!

(The link seems not to be working. Hmm. Well, the url was this: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-sensory-hair-cells-regenerated-mammal.html    Okay, that works.)

Historically there has been a huge gap between basic research and having it be applicable to actual patient care, and a lot of breakthroughs that could possibly have done much haven’t gotten the attention nor the funding to bridge that gap; if there’s not a clear path towards making a lot of money, companies won’t spend the millions it takes to jump through the FDA’s hoops–especially because historically the hoops could get yanked out from under them if/when a new head comes in. Politics happens.

As happened with a once-promising lupus drug that a company had believed in to the tune of, if I remember correctly, $21 million worth of development. Vanished. Would the med have worked? We don’t know.

President Obama made a point awhile ago of noting the problem and saying we need to move forward past those gaps–there was much cheering at places like the National Institutes of Health in my hometown.

Given the number of aging people with aging hearing, I’m thinking this one could be one of the most profitable drugs ever.

C’mon guys, I’m waaaitingggg…! Hurry up!