Opal hears for first time after gene cure

Toddler amazes scientists after ground-breaking medical trial

- MARTIN BAGOT 

A TODDLER can hear for the first time after becoming the world's youngest patient to get pioneering gene therapy.

Opal was born completely deaf because of a rare genetic condition that disrupts nerve impulses travelling from the inner ear to the brain.

When she was 11 months old she took part in a medical trial in which a harmless virus containing a working copy of her faulty gene was injected into in the cochlear of her right ear.