After 30 months the new ear looked more like the healthy ear Science Direct

Five children have each been given a new ear made from their own cells in a world first. The technique is similar to the one used in the 1990s to create the famous “Vacanti mouse”, which had a human-like ear growing on its back.

“It’s a very exciting approach,” says Tessa Hadlock at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston. “They’ve shown that it is possible to get close to restoring the ear structure.”

The children were all born with an underdeveloped ear, a …