A Japanese research group has become the first to reveal that the checkerboard-like arrangement of cells in the inner ear's organ of Corti is vital for hearing. The discovery gives new insight into how hearing works from the perspective of cell self-organization and will also enable various hearing loss disorders to be better understood.
source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-science-news/a-checkerboard-pattern-of-inner-ear-cells-enables-us-to-hear