[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.13,0:00:08.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Voice of America jingle]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.88,0:00:12.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[concrete music produced by the objects shown]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.43,0:00:16.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Peter Fedynsky] This clashing and crashing percussion music is the work of Jay Alan Zimmerman,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.91,0:00:22.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a New York composer with significant hearing loss who has been dubbed "Broadway's Beethoven."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.70,0:00:27.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The piece, entitled "Roboticus," is about a man who upgrades his natural body
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.57,0:00:30.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with artificial parts to become a robot.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.56,0:00:36.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Jay Alan Zimmermann] Yes, that's the situation I am facing: Do I get a cochlear implant and become a bionic man?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.12,0:00:40.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If it gave me better than normal hearing, I would grab it,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.58,0:00:43.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[sings vocals: Woo-eeee]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.28,0:00:45.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Zimmerman has no diagnosis for the condition
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.41,0:00:49.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that turned his world into a muddle of sound more than 10 years ago.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.01,0:00:56.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He supplements that muddle through lip reading. He also relies on light as a complement to his music.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.85,0:00:59.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Zimmerman says his hearing problem may involve damage
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.46,0:01:02.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the minute sensors in the ear known as hair cells
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.98,0:01:05.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that transmit audio signals to the brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.74,0:01:06.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[music]
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.84,0:01:10.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Though the electronic device known as a cochlear implant improves hearing,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.100,0:01:15.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it does not allow for appreciation of music or all of the richness of sound.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.00,0:01:21.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Zimmerman prefers to wait for scientists to find a way of regenerating hair cells.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.86,0:01:25.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Researchers gained a valuable insight from an unexpected source.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.62,0:01:27.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Hens cackling]
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.04,0:01:31.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dr. Mark Warchol of the Washington University School of Medicine explains
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.89,0:01:34.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what chickens have brought to hearing research.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.17,0:01:41.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Mark Warchol] The avian inner ear has this remarkable ability to regenerate sensory receptors after injury,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.65,0:01:47.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, Deafening a bird, for example, turns out to be a very temporary thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.98,0:01:55.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Within several weeks, all of the dead sensory cells, damaged sensory cells, will be replaced by new cells.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.77,0:02:01.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Peter Fedynsky] Unlike chickens, humans cannot replace sensory cells lost to aging, toxicity or loud noise.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.40,0:02:07.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Researchers at this week's Hearing Restoration Project summit at the New York Academy of Medicine
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.86,0:02:10.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,noted the human body does have the capacity
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.46,0:02:15.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to restore skin cells, cells in the digestive tract and in a damaged liver.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.47,0:02:20.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dr. Andrew Groves of the Baylor School of Medicine says scientists are trying
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.43,0:02:23.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to apply that capacity to more complicated sensory cells.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.76,0:02:28.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Andrew Groves] You can break the problem down into two simple processes,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.65,0:02:35.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One isthat, if you want to repair something, you have to make more cells; the cells have to divide.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.95,0:02:45.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So understanding what tells a cell to start dividing and then to stop at the appropriate time is really important.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.52,0:02:49.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Peter Fedynsky] But researchers say that "simple" problem may take 10 years to solve
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.68,0:02:52.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and tens of millions of dollars to fund the effort.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.92,0:02:54.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[music]
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.90,0:03:01.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At this point, Jay Alan Zimmerman is declining surgical treatment while he waits for a cure.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.11,0:03:04.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the meantime, he says he will continue writing musicals
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.49,0:03:07.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and performing his own compositions for theater.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.04,0:03:10.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Peter Fedynsky, VOANews, New York
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.32,0:03:12.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Music. continuo: "maybe - maybe not" with off voice: "Can you help?"]
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.20,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Captions based on the transcript provided by VOA in the web version of this video)