Applications of genomics in the inner ear

Understanding the development and function of the inner ear requires knowledge of the genes expressed and the pathways involved. Such knowledge is also essential for the development of therapeutic approaches for a wide range of inner ear diseases affecting millions of people. The completion of the Human Genome Project and emergence of genomics-based technologies have made it possible to analyze the expression patterns of the inner ear genes at the whole genome level, generating an unprecedented amount of information on gene expression patterns. This review will discuss the current status of work using genomics, in particular the functional genomics approach, to study different aspects of inner ear genes. It will also illustrate how the approach can help to identify and characterize deafness genes, as well as contributing to work related to hair cell regeneration.