The Jewish brain: Why Judaism begins with the word "hear"

Israeli scientists have announced a discovery that may someday change the lives of millions of people living with hearing loss. At Tel Aviv University, Prof. Karen Avraham and her research team have identified a biological mechanism that could eventually allow damaged sensory hair cells in the inner ear to regenerate — something long believed impossible in humans.

For Avraham, this breakthrough represents the latest chapter in a lifetime devoted to hearing. For decades she has been one of the world’s leading researchers into hereditary hearing loss, identifying many of the genes responsible fo...