00:00For millions of Americans who were born unable to hear, a historic moment just arrived.
00:05The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first-ever gene therapy for genetic hearing loss on May 29th.
00:12The treatment targets a mutation in the OTOF gene, one of the most common causes of congenital deafness.
00:19In clinical trials, children who received the therapy achieved measurable hearing restoration for the first time in their lives.
00:26An estimated 34 million Americans currently live with some form of hearing impairment.
00:32Congenital hearing loss affects roughly 1 to 3 babies per thousand births in the United States.
00:38This FDA approval opens the door to broader access across the country.
00:42Though the therapy is expected to be used initially for children with confirmed OTOF gene mutations,
00:49experts say the approval is also a signal of how rapidly gene therapy is advancing from experimental science into real
00:56-world medicine.
00:57More genetic conditions could follow this path in the coming years.
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