Spatiotemporal single-cell multi-omics to unlock hair cell regeneration

Our senses of hearing and balance use highly-specialised cells, located in the inner ear, to communicate sound and head movement information to the brain. These are called hair cells (for their hairy-like protrusions), and are so specialised that it is very difficult to replace them when they are damaged. In fact, auditory hair cells cannot be recovered, while the vestibular ones can be replaced, but very inefficiently. Interestingly, this regeneration is more prominent at young ages. My project will study how the inefficient regeneration of vestibular hair cells relates to age. I will use the latest single-cell genomics techniques to look at the genes each cell uses while maturing and/or regenerating. I will also investigate whether changing the use of key genes can overturn the age-related loss of hair cell regeneration. In this way, we will be one step closer to developing therapies for tackling balance disorders and deafness.