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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.
Right. Some tight skinny jeans and a bottle of vodka ... well, I suppose they should wait till she turns 21 for the vodka.
In all seriousness, if she has the mental age of a 5 year old, she is probably quite content being treated as one, and it would be highly innappropriate to treat her as older than she "really" is.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
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.
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.
They mention, and I quote, potential therapy to "Alzheimer’s, heart disease or cancer". I barely noticed any focus on anti-ageing cosmetic treatments, but then again, I RTFA. So, stop shoving your narrow view of the world and science into everything.
The kid's the product of a tranya fueled dalliance by her mom after a night out with Balok on his spaceship.
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.
Insufficient iodine levels cause Cretinism by causing the thyroid to not produce sufficient growth hormones. Since the article states her hormones are normal...
Those researchers can't exactly get funding to cure a single patient that's literally unique with a syndrome that most likely never happened or will happen again.
However, if you say she might have the key for the cure of cancer and to stop aging they sure will get funded fast. If by some miracle they find a possible cure in the process, there's a chance that she might get that cure where otherwise the chance is a fat zero.
Heeeeeeey psych. class ladies!
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
She decided never to grow up when she heard her father declare that she would become a grocer.
Nyh
Since when do 5 year olds nap? Mine (apparently) runs on a fission generator in overdrive from 7:00 a.m. to about 10:00 p.m.
Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
Five year olds take naps for the same reason teenagers wear sweaters: because mom needs a nap/sweater, so by God, you need one too.
Since when do 5 year olds nap? Mine (apparently) runs on a fission generator in overdrive from 7:00 a.m. to about 10:00 p.m.
My 6yo still naps. I think everyone should nap if at all possible - it's quite healthy to take a siesta [1]. The problem is that the modern world makes you feel like you're not worth as much if you're not "aware and contributing" 16+ hours of the day. The question is, if you took 30-45m "off", would the remaining time be more productive?
[1] http://www.siestaawareness.org/pages/siesta-facts.php
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*cowboy hero-archetype dance*
Quite possible. But hormones are definitely not the problem here - her endocrine system is normal. Besides, lack of growth hormone or response to the growth hormone has wildly different symptoms (they are not pretty) while this girl is basically a normal toddler without major deformities.
Oh, and we'll be sequencing her whole DNA (hopefully in a few months) now that there is enough funding for this.
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.