For bats and dolphins, hearing gene prestin adapted for echolocation
Friday, August 1, 2014 - 01:30
in Biology & Nature
A little over a decade ago, prestin was found to be a key gene responsible for hearing in mammals. Prestin makes a protein found in the hair cells of the inner ear that contracts and expands rapidly to transmit signals that help the cochlea, like an antique phonograph horn, amplify sound waves to make hearing more sensitivity.