According to study co-author Larry J. Young of Emory University, the results provide evidence in a comparatively simple animal model that changes in the activity
of a single gene profoundly can change a fundamental social behavior of animals within a species.
With a
single local injection
of the USH1G
gene just after birth, the scientists observed a restoration
of the structure and mechanosensory function
of the inner ear hair bundles —
profoundly damaged before birth -, resulting in a long - term partial recovery
of hearing, and complete recovery
of vestibular function in these mice.