[b]harvested [/b]from the inner ears of patients with hearing loss

Harvested through autopsy?

Context:
Dr. Jeffrey Holt, associate professor of neuroscience and otolaryngology at UVa, and his research team, including Dr. Bradley Kesser, an assistant professor of otolaryngology, targeted a gene known as KCNQ4, which causes genetic hearing loss in humans when mutated. They engineered a correct form of the gene and created a gene therapy delivery system that successfully transferred the KCNQ4 gene into human hair cells harvested from the inner ears of patients with hearing loss.

More:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070614082041.htm