Dr Anwen Bullen | Seeing our hearing: How microscopes have changed our lives

The inner ear has long fascinated biologists. It contains our organs of hearing and balance, which use complex 3D structures to turn movement and sound waves into electrical signals that can be processed and understood by our brains. Specialised detector cells called hair cells are the first step in this sensory process, and malfunctioning hair cells cause many hearing and balance disorders.

The story of how we unravelled the inner workings of hair cells is entwined with the story of how microscopy developed as a science. From early anatomists who hand drew the cells they saw, to solving the structure of channel proteins by cryo-electron microscopy, microscopes have been at the forefront of hair cell research for over a hundred years. Join Anwen Bullen as she explores the history of microscopy through the history of hair cell neuroscience, and show how some of the smallest structures in cells can have the biggest effects on our sensory world.