If you are not familiar with her she is an amazing 17 year old child from Maryland, with the body and mental capabilities of a 1 year old. For all scientists can tell she hasn't aged a day past the age of one. She has had several medical emergencies that have disappeared as quickly as they have appeared.
There has been no diagnosis of any known genetic syndrome or chromosomal abnormalities. Her parents have tried hormonal therapy which did nothing. Shortly after doctors gave her condition a name called Syndrome X.
When geneticists sequenced Greenberg's DNA, they found that the genes associated with the premature aging diseases were normal, unlike the mutated versions in patients with Werner syndrome and progeria.
In 2006, Richard Walker, PhD in endocrine physiology of the University of South Florida College of Medicine, said that Brooke's body is not developing as a coordinated unit, but as independent parts that are out of sync. She has never been diagnosed with any known genetic disorder or chromosomal abnormality that would help explain why. Her telomeres seem to be shortening at the normal rate.
In 2009, Walker said: "There've been very minimal changes in Brooke's brain ... Various parts of her body, rather than all being at the same stage, seem to be disconnected." Walker noted that Greenberg's brain, for example, is not much more mature than that of a newborn infant. He estimates her mental age at around 9 months to a year old. Brooke can make gestures and recognize sounds, but cannot speak. Her bones are like those of a ten-year-old, and she still has her baby teeth, which have an estimated developmental age of about 8 years. Said Walker, "We think that Brooke's condition presents us with a unique opportunity to understand the process of aging."
By 2010 at least two other individuals have been identified with similar developmental issues as Brooke Greenberg.
Walker has an unusual theory about aging which he wants to confirm with data from Brooke. "Aging happens when developmental genes merely run out of meaningful information and subsequently cause chaos," he argues. What if master developmental genes could be shut down?
She has no hormonal problems, and her chromosomes seem normal. But her development is proceeding "extremely slowly," says Walker. If scientists can figure out what is causing the disorder, it might be possible to unlock the mysteries of aging itself. "Then we've got the golden ring," says Walker.
He hopes to simply eliminate age-related diseases like cancer, dementia and diabetes. People who no longer age will no longer get sick, he reasons. But he also thinks eternal life is conceivable. "Biological immortality is possible," says Walker. "If you don't get hit by a car or by lightning, you could live at least 1,000 years."
Aubrey de Grey, a British biologist, argues that the Brooke Greenberg case "has absolutely nothing to do with aging." He favors the standard theory that a body's cells simply wear out over the years.
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