In recent years, progress in research on hearing mechanisms and the factors responsible for hearing disorders has raised hopes for future preventive and curative therapies. Currently the only solutions for hearing loss are external hearing aids and cochlear implants. The issue is becoming increasingly urgent given the number of people affected by hearing loss, the most common sensory disorder in humans. The Hearing Institute, an Institut Pasteur research center inaugurated a year ago, has the ambition to understand auditory perception and is a great hope for people with hearing loss.