# Is this really "biological immortality"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 18, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-biological-immortality/666526 "2013-08-18T01:32:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-biological-immortality/666526/1 "2013-08-18T01:32:55Z")
A rather sensational article claiming a tiny handful of people- including a young girl currently under intense medical study- age vastly more slowly than normal: > **[Girl who never ages could hold key to 'biological immortality,' researcher says](https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/researcher-girl-ages-key-biological-immortality-article-1.1429255)** > > TLC's '40-Year-Old Child: A New Case' special will look into what Gabby Williams, the 8-year-old with the body of an infant, and others with mysterious conditions that drastically slow their aging process have in common. My question is, are these people actually aging slower, or is it simply that they’re experiencing some form of developmental disorder? That is, they aren’t really going to live centuries given proper care, are they? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-biological-immortality/666526/2 "2013-08-18T04:17:29Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > A rather sensational article claiming a tiny handful of people- including a young girl currently under intense medical study- age vastly more slowly than normal: > > [Girl who never ages could hold key to ‘biological immortality,’ researcher says – New York Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/researcher-girl-ages-key-biological-immortality-article-1.1429255) > > My question is, are these people actually aging slower, or is it simply that they’re experiencing some form of developmental disorder? I am pretty confident it is the latter. This guy Walker enjoys the spotlight and/or is hoping he will get more grant money if he makes sensational claims. If it was immortality (or even significantly greater longevity) then, even though the condition is very rare it would have been known about for centuries. My bet would be that these unfortunate children will actually die very young. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-biological-immortality/666526/3 "2013-08-18T04:31:47Z")
That’s not a very good article. It talks about Gabrielle Williams and Nicky Freeman, who have this symptom, but it doesn’t mention another well-known case, Brooke Greenberg. Greenberg might be the most important case to look at. She looks very young both in size and apparent age. However, she has been quite sick a number of times. Also, note that she has a mental age of about one year. Someone thinking that this condition might somehow allow the human race to live forever should realize that this might mean that no one would progress to a mental age above one year. Basically, nobody really understands what’s going on with these three or any others with similar symptoms, and no one knows if understanding their condition will be of any medical use for other people: > **[Brooke Greenberg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooke_Greenberg)** > > Brooke Megan Greenberg (January 8, 1993 – October 24, 2013) was an American woman who remained physically and cognitively similar to a toddler, despite her increasing age. She was about 30 in (76 cm) tall, weighed about 16 lb (7.3 kg) and had an estimated mental age of nine months to one year. Brooke's doctors termed her condition Syndrome X. > Brooke was born on January 8, 1993 to parents Howard and Melanie Greenberg at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. She was delivered by caesarean secti... ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-biological-immortality/666526/4 "2013-08-18T06:15:50Z")
I saw one (or several) articles about that yesterday. One of them mentioned that these children tend not to live very long. The articles were only of middling interest to me, so they mostly went in one eyeball and out the other. But IIRC, it said something like one of them, at 7 years old, had survived unusually long for someone with that condition. (I could be remembering this very wrongly, but I am at least certain about them not usually living past mid-childhood or thereabouts.) ETA: Okay, the article cited in the OP has this to say, which I don’t recall seeing wherever it was I read about it: > [@](#): > > TLC shared Gabby’s story back in 2011 in a special called “My 40-Year-Old Child.” The hour-long documentary also profiled 40-year-old Nicky Freeman, an Australian man with the appearance of a 10-year-old. > > Scientists have since discovered two more people with similar cases of the mysterious syndrome: a 29-year-old Florida man with the appearance of a 10-year-old, and a 31-year-old Brazilian woman who still looks like a toddler. Their stories, along with Gabby’s, are part of a follow-up TLC special that airs on Monday at 10 p.m. ET. But Gabby, the “40 Year Old Child” is actually only 8 years old, not 40. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-biological-immortality/666526/5 "2013-08-18T07:00:48Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > But Gabby, the “40 Year Old Child” is actually only 8 years old, not 40. As mentioned in your link, the 40 yo child is nicky Freeman. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-biological-immortality/666526/6 "2013-08-18T07:14:21Z")
They never claim that any of these cases reflects ‘biological immortality’. They speculate that if they could, one day, identify specifically which gene controls the process of developmental inertia (aging) by studying this disorder, that perhaps, one day, it could be switched off at the perfect moment during young adulthood and halt the natural aging process. They also go on to say that obviously people would still die of diseases and accidents regardless. The scientist isn’t being sensational, the headline is. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-biological-immortality/666526/7 "2013-08-18T11:52:53Z")
Which still, of course, relies upon the processes governing maturation and senescence being related, which they might not be. Still, though, when the potential payoff is a cure for old age, even a longshot can be worth betting on.