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What do you get when you cross a mouse with poor hearing and a mouse with even worse hearing? Ironically, a new strain of mice with golden ears - mice that have outstanding hearing as they age.

The work by one of the world's foremost groups in age-related hearing loss, or , marks the first time that scientists have created the mouse equivalent of a person withgolden ears - people who are able to retain great hearing even as they grow older. The research at the  was published online recently in the journal .

The new mouse is expected to offer clues about how these lucky folks are able to retain outstanding hearing even through old age. Researchers estimate that approximately 5 percent of people, mainly women, fall into this category. The new mice created in the laboratory of , embody many of the same traits of human golden ears because of an astute cross of two types of mice long popular with researchers.