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Scientists studying a 17-year-old girl with the body and behaviour of a baby
- sliverstorm 16y agoThat her development ceased around that of a 1 year old suggests to me she has not ceased aging, but ceased developing. Either the next step is broken, or her internal time clock is frozen, but the former seems more likely. I may be wrong, but I was under the impression aging is different from the development that happens until our mid twenties, so how can finding what's stopping her development help us stop aging?
- wisty 16y agoIt's possible that humans go into "low maintenance mode" as they get old. Old people sleep less, which may age them more, but also lets them get more stuff done. Even if you can stop aging, it won't stop cancer.
- jockc 16y agoI watched a program about this girl and I remember thinking this the whole time. She stopped development in most ways, but that doesn't mean she isn't aging.
- PG-13 16y agoIs every story on here just something someone saw on Reddit?
- Devilboy 16y agoReddit has every story ever so yes.
- haydenchambers 16y agothink of HN as an arsegarbage filter (to quote stephen fry) .. it works well most of the time
- mahmud 16y agoWho reads reddit?
- RyanMcGreal 16y agoNobody goes to reddit anymore. It's too crowded.
- billswift 16y agoThis story has been kicking around on the web for over a year. I read it over a year ago (I don't remember where it was linked from) when the girl was 16.
- GFischer 16y agoI saw it on Slashdot a year ago: http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/06/26/1342215/Doctors-Baffled-Intrigued-By-Girl-Who-Doesnt-Age http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/06/26/1342215/Doctors-B...
- moconnor 16y agoRedd-what? Is that like Digg?
- axod 16y agoI love the way in these sort of articles they say things like "May hold the key to aging". As if scientists will suddenly discover some magical formula that prevents aging and gives everyone everlasting life.
- mike463 16y agoIt would be lots more interesting to Parents if they said something like "May hold the key to maturity", where they learn how to stop a 17 year old from having the behavior of a baby. ;)
- louislouis 16y agoDoes this mean she will live for a very very long time?
- JeffJenkins 16y agoGiven her other serious medical conditions, probably not.
- trebor 16y agoBecause we don't fully understand genetics, it's risky to attempt to "give" this condition to another human. From what we can understand, a given gene can control multiple traits. So the "anti-aging"/"anti-development" genes may also hold those other medical conditions too. I think that no one in their right mind would accept the therapy if it would give them one or more irreversible problems.
- jamesbressi 16y agoSaw this a couple years ago and again last year on ABC. Quick video from ABC special: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVFWR7ay90 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVFWR7ay90