London, Feb 5 (ANI): A tiny "genetic patch" can be used to prevent a form of deafness that runs in families, a new research has shown.

Patients with Usher syndrome have defective sections of their genetic code which cause problems with hearing, sight and balance.

A study showed the same defects could be corrected in mice to restore some hearing, the BBC reported.

Experts said it was an "encouraging" start.

There are many types of Usher syndrome tied to different errors in a patient's DNA - the blueprint for building every component of the body.

One of those mutations runs in families descended from French settlers in North America.

When they try to build a protein called hormonin, which is needed to form the tiny hairs in the ear that detect sound, they do not finish the job.

It results in hearing loss at birth and has a similar effect in the eye where it causes a gradual loss of vision.

Scientists at the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, in Chicago in the US, designed a small strip of genetic material which attaches to the mutation and keeps the body's factories building the protein.

There has been something of a flurry of developments in restoring hearing in the past year.

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Genetic patch cures deafness in newborn mice

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