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Researchers Study Mystery of the Toddler Who Won't Grow
kkleiner writes "Twenty-year-old Brooke Greenberg hasn't grown since age five. For the last 15 years, mystified doctors have been unable to explain the cause for Brooke's disorder that has kept her aging in check. At age twenty, she maintains the physical and mental appearance of a toddler. The researchers are now are painstakingly analyzing Brooke’s entire genome in search of unique mutations. Needless to say, it is a formidable undertaking. 'Cracking the code on Brooke’s condition,' [Dr. Eric Shadt] wrote, 'is the proverbial searching for a needle in a haystack, since likely there is one or a small number of letters changed in Brooke’s genome that has caused her condition.' To find the mutation Shadt and his team are using the latest genome sequencing and analysis tools. The strategy is to compare Brooke’s genome to the genomes of her parents and three normal sisters, as well as to other available sequences from the general population, and identify gene mutations that only Brooke has."
4chan is going to love this one.
Perpetual kittens.
The Grups are studying her intensely.
BANG BANG
obviously the scientists studying her have far better qualifications and information than i do, but i can't help but think damage to the brain due to the stroke, coma, and brain tumor she suffered at age 4 (right before she stopped developing) could be a more likely cause than her particular genetic makeup.
i could live a little longer in this prison
Originally a term used in Jungian psychology to describe how one presents their consciousness (persona/image/self) to the outside world. In this context, it indicates that Brooke responds to the world in a manner appropriate for a 5-year-old.
Looks like she's actually not aging, and has some sort of ability to remove tumors. Is she being stalked by a giant in a diving suit?
Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
first thing I thought too. Not sure what that means.
The syndrome description as given is remarkably like Cretinism. Cretinism typically results from insufficient iodine levels in the diet during early childhood. This person may have mutation(s) which mimic the damage caused in Cretinism.
Pretty sad that the focus of the article and medical attention seemed to be on using her genes for anti-ageing cosmetic treatments instead of curing her. I also found it at bit odd that she is shown in a pram (instead of say an adult wheelchair) and there is a baby cot in the background, these do not seem age appropriate, despite her lack of physical growth.
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It's Fringe's Anomaly XB-6783746
obviously the scientists studying her have far better qualifications and information than i do, but i can't help but think damage to the brain due to the stroke, coma, and brain tumor she suffered at age 4 (right before she stopped developing) could be a more likely cause than her particular genetic makeup.
Well from the article they said:
“has no apparent abnormalities in her endocrine system, no gross chromosomal abnormalities, or any of the other disruptions known to occur in humans that can cause developmental issues.”
I assume that the endocrine system would have to be affected in order to cause such stunted growth? If the stroke, coma or brain tumor led to this wouldn't they see that abnormality reflected in these growth regulating systems? Also from the article the researchers claimed:
“Cracking the code on Brooke’s condition,” Shadt wrote, “is the proverbial searching for a needle in a haystack, since likely there is one or a small number of letters changed in Brooke’s genome that has caused her condition.”
Some googling turned up older studies that claim there are no known genetic disorders present or even chromosomal abnormalities and her telomeres seem to be shortening at the normal rate. Also, apparently her body parts are developing out of synchronization. I guess it's possible there is a hidden system that synchronizes development so that your body doesn't develop asymmetrically? And we just haven't found this yet.
... that Kurzweil Singularity bullshit should be left out of the discussion until we fully understand it.
Sort of offtopic but I'm a little disappointed that this unfortunate affliction for this person is being spun as a possible "fountain of eternal youth" in the article. Come on, people. We should be working to better understand this so we can help people
My work here is dung.
Only in places that respect patents, you will be able to find businesses in other places claiming to do the same treatments for much less, and some of those places may not be scams.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
Unfortunately, just analyzing genes might not be enough. Gene expression and epigenetics are the other half of the puzzle, and a bit more difficult to discover. Even if you know the code, it's damn difficult to determine where in the body (if anywhere) the code is or isn't active without taking samples all over the place and testing each.
For the computer literate, think of it this way. The researches are disassembling the code of several people to see if there is a difference. But that doesn't tell them what the run time parameters were when a particular bit of code was run (or what inputs it may have had while running). And sampling a memory dump from one CPU in a massively parallel system doesn't give you the whole story either.
Needle meets haystack.
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
opp opp OPPAN JUNGIAN STYLE
A normal five year old can use the toilet. Not everyone developed as slowly as you.
Just because someone isn't developing doesn't neccessarily mean they aren't aging.
She may be accumulating some of the various types of damage that we all undergo as part of aging, but just not progressing in maturing to an adult state.
When a child develops from the reproductive cells of the parents effectively all or nearly all of the changes of aging present in the parents are undone. Brooke's genetic makeup may only be blocking SOME of those aging related changes along with blocking maturation.
As time goes on, assuming she stays alive and healthy enough for the studies (Gads, that sounds so cold and clinical. She's a human being with health difficulties not just a research object.) the researchers can see if some aging processes start becoming evident. But, 20 years old is still awfully young to be able to detect those.
What may be possible is to see what genetic changes she has and then try to recreate similar ones in lab animals that age faster than humans.
I wonder how gene damage and telomeres will play into the story of this person's aging.
The kid's the product of a tranya fueled dalliance by her mom after a night out with Balok on his spaceship.
According to Wikipedia, which cites a study in a medical journal, her telomeres are still shortening at the normal rate. This would mean that if she lives to be 70 she'll likely appear to be a miniature 70 year old woman, with wrinkles and all. Since she'll never reach puberty, I have no idea if that will prevent her from experiencing the problems linked to hormones, which people experience, such as osteoporosis.
Jeffty is five too. Maybe in her TV you could see the 25th season of Star Trek TNG.
Just not all at the same time. Her left eye is not the eye of a five year old.
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
Maybe she's Wolverine, and her immune system is attacking aging as an illness, but it kicked in at age 5 instead of adulthood.
You never expect irony, do you?
Want to be a professional wrestler? Visit www.iyfwrestling.com
@iyfwrestling
Katie Couric is afflicted with soft focus syndrome. It also affects Diane Sawyer. She takes a personal interest in this since thye may be able to find a cure.
"He's lost in a 'floyd hole"
If given a real motive to extend patent life - you think there wouldn't be a massive push for it?
I LOL'd pretty hard XD
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Heeeeeeey psych. class ladies!
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
She regenerates, but the regeneration harms her mind and growth rate. She's Deadpool if Deadpool got his powers as a toddler. Hmmm, he has "comic awareness".. I wonder if she knows if this universe is a simulation or not.
She decided never to grow up when she heard her father declare that she would become a grocer.
Nyh
The book was way better than that movie they made back in the 90s.
"It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen; that is the common right of humanity."
Longevity was not mentioned in the article, but I did ponder the question of whether what the scientists find may actually lead to "the fountain of youth." Imagine if you could suddenly stop aging once you reach your "preferred" age!
He's not underdeveloped, he just prefers using a diaper.
When in the presence of other species, Vorlons wear encounter suits.
What a co-inky-dink! I too wear an "encounter suit" when I go out on the town!
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
They've enough comparison of parental chromosomes to tell there are about 30 random gene mutations inherited from each parent. They'll have to sort for these whether there is one or more on a significant gene.
Fail, Paternt will be extended to the life of the inventor. If the inventor will live forever, so will the patent.
or it's a sword immortal and the only way for her to die and not come back is for the head to come off.
I think you may have made a good point against me. Geniuses are in short supply but murderous despots are post-scarcity.
Although we have plenty enough people who could substitute for Edison or Ford going around...
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
If people didn't die of old age, I suspect that we'd see far less brutal rulers rising up. Getting shot or assassinated in a political revolution seems like a good gamble when at worst you're throwing away another 30 or 40 years for a chance at ruling. It changes things when you're gambling away hundreds or thousands of years for some shiny trinkets and a nice house.
Everything will be taken away from you.
No, she is the key to never developing past the physical or mental age of 5.
If never developing past age 5 is what will help Homo survive for the next 8000 centuries, all we need to do is somehow figure out how to suppress the Morlock mutation.
Is she being stalked by a giant in a diving suit?
That depends. Does this giant drop bombs?
*cowboy hero-archetype dance*
The real study is in Washington DC, where for decades, adults act like spoiled brats, never really growing up. Cater to their whims and they want more. Demand that they sit up straight and act like adults, they become more belligerent, even to the point of rebelliousness. Spank them and they declare war against you. It's time to put RECALL on the ballot.
The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.
If life has taught me anything it's that in most cases there are no coincidences. The coma and such that happened to her around the time she stopped growing are significant. They may not be the cause, but they most almost certainly share a common cause.
I know a kid who is taking hormones to reach full size because the endocrine system was damaged by radiation. There is apparently a time limit on that, you have to reach a certain physical age before a certain chronological age or you get stuck. I'm not sure they even understand why that is so, just that it is so. Also, the treatment while working, isn't going so well - kid may be a little short - and they don't know why. All the levels are right with treatment.
I'm going with 50/50 that there is even a genetic cause to this unique case. And if so, I'd go with under 10 percent chance it's a mutation in coding DNA. But please do continue, if it is DNA the discovery should be well worth the effort.
If people didn't die of old age, I suspect that we'd see far less brutal rulers rising up. Getting shot or assassinated in a political revolution seems like a good gamble when at worst you're throwing away another 30 or 40 years for a chance at ruling. It changes things when you're gambling away hundreds or thousands of years for some shiny trinkets and a nice house.
Far less new brutal rulers, perhaps. But the risk is the same or worse for those who would rise up against existing brutal rulers.
Mostly, though, I think it will mean fewer despots. Despots stay in power partly through brutality but at least as much through controlling information. But no control is perfect and it becomes harder to stay in power when your entire population consists of people old enough to remember cases where you told them lies and they knew better.
!growing != !aging
Quite true, but it is difficult to distinguish the two prior to maturity. Normal 20 year old's are not perceptively aged either. They are in their prime. No parts of their bodies have noticeably declined. It would be much more instructive to check up this little girl when she is 30 or, better yet, 40.
Maybe this makes me a bad person, but my first thought was "that's awesome!" My kids were so cute and fun at that age. I'm sure it's more stressful if you live through it, but for now I've got the fantasy....
She's infant sized.
Wikipedia says she's 30 inches tall, 16 pounds.
My almost nine month old daughter is 26 pounds, around 30 inches. That's like 99th percentile in size, but still infant sized.
An average 5 year old is 40 inches, 40 pounds.
The preferred solution is to not have a problem.
...but in the Garden of Eden there were two trees of note, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil and the Tree of Life.
After man sinned (by eating from the former tree), God banished them from the garden so that they would not eat from the tree of life and live forever.
I find it interesting that when they were innocent God was all cool with them being immortal, but when they became sinful/morally flawed/infected with evil, God's like, "These schmoes as immortals? Nope. Nuh huh. This will not end well."
For years I've been saying we need something for dogs to keep them as puppies, so they're small and cute for life.
The problem is that you'd need enough time so that you could properly train them ... you'd want to make sure they could at least make it past the 'potty training' phase, or there'd be problems. (I think the litter training for cats happens faster).
But if you retard the mental development, that'd mean they could do all of the dumb puppy things that people find so cute. (Or cats ... I remember when my boss's cat was scared of a laser pointer, before she decided she should chase the dot)
And as for the person who pointed out that 5 years is middle aged for a cat ... we have dog years to work with. So the dog would be um .. (12 * 5 / 7 ) = 8.5 months old.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Sorry to be blunt, but she really looks like there's some kind of mental retardation. She looks worn, her teeth are too large, and if she really had the mental age of 5 she would walk and talk, not sit in a stroller like that. If you look at the pictures shown in the video it is totally obvious she is getting older (in her own sense). Makes me sad, really. Hope they get something good out of this.
Einstein had become irrelevant in physics at least 20 years before his death. Of course he retained great stature and influence in the world and tried to use it for good but he wasn't advancing physics. Newton was Warden and later Master of the Royal Mint in London for the last 30 years of his life. I don't know enough about the others but I doubt they were making real progress by the end of their lives.
My thoughts exactly. The first thing to receive this pill, will be the patent itself.
Very sad story, I hope they can find some way to give her a decent life.
How many generations of "kids shows" have they had to suffer thru now?
I can't get the theme song to Team Umizoomi out of my head as it is!
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
She's a true Toys 'R' Us kid.
This is Jeffty is Five!