8-Year-Old Never Ages, Could Reveal 'Biological Immortality' - Polidicks

[quote]Gabby Williams has the facial features and skin of a newborn, and she is just as dependent. Her mother feeds, diapers and cradles her tiny frame as she did the day she was born. The little girl from Billings, Mont., is 8 years old, but weighs only 11 pounds. Gabby has a mysterious condition, shared by only a handful of others in the world, that slows her rate of aging. For the past two years, a doctor who has been trying to find the genetic off-switch to stop the aging process has been studying Gabby, as well as two other people who have striking similarities. [/quote] [url]http://gma.yahoo.com/8-old-11-pounds-never-ages-040317717--abc-news-health.html[/url] Soon we all could be like Edward Cullen!

If there's a literal "off-switch" it might be nice if found, but honestly this is still a horrible disease that comes along with many many other health problems. I remember reading about one of the victim's who had something similar to this, her body didn't really grow after she was 10 except for her heart, which could just barely fit in her ribcage.

There's a difference between aging and developing.

This would be great if we could trigger it in people once they've reach their prime (20ish)

Pfft, what the fuck

Having to raise a baby for 8 years straight, I think we just found what hell is like.

While simply fascinating and unfortunate, you are definitely [i]sensationalist[/i] in declaring the possibility to reveal the secret to "Biological Immortality". These unfortunate souls are simply aging normally (internally, age-wise), though their physical growth has been inhibited. It hasn't extended their life, it is very likely that they will pass away within 50 years of their life. The oldest mentioned, at 40 years, likely has been very lucky or is nearing the limit of their physical life. The stresses on the body from such a 'deformity' must be immense. The key in discovering immortality is the body's ability to repair damage. As we grow older our DNA begins to break down (due to pretty much everything we do; breathing, sun exposure, toxic materials, and even via cellular mitosis). and loses its' efficiency. As a result our bodies decay and eventually fail. So if you can figure out a way to protect and repair something as complex and unique as a person's DNA, you're set for life.

Wait until 21st birthday and then become immortal, I could live with that. [sp]except seeing everyone you love or ever will love eventually die[/sp]

Anyone else think of that old Invader Zim episode with the Aliens that look like and masquerade as babies? [img]http://puu.sh/45lmC.jpg[/img]

They'd better hurry up, because I'm not getting any younger over here!

If we all get immortality, we have a horrible case of overcrowding.

[QUOTE=c:;41888080]If we all get immortality, we have a horrible case of overcrowding.[/QUOTE] More of a reason to leave Earth.

ugh ive seen one of these people on tv, its like the exact opposite of progeria and ugh they both are creepy as fuck, but at least these ones live fairly long compared to progeria children who unfortunatly have short lives.

[QUOTE=SpartanXC9;41888097]More of a reason to leave Earth.[/QUOTE] If we accomplish immortality, we'd be colonizing other planets [I]within our lifetime![/I]

[QUOTE=c:;41888080]If we all get immortality, we have a horrible case of overcrowding.[/QUOTE] But then we could travel places that take more than a lifetime to reach. Thus having unlimited space. That is if you actually find another planet that you can live on.

[QUOTE=BigJoeyLemons;41888115]If we accomplish immortality, we'd be colonizing other planets [I]within our lifetime![/I][/QUOTE] Probably not, even if we could live forever, it would tak- OH I see what you did there

"genetic off-switch" Reminds me of Kagone Kagone.

[QUOTE=JCDentonUNATCO;41887952]I remember reading about one of the victim's who had something similar to this, her body didn't really grow after she was 10 except for her heart, which could just barely fit in her ribcage.[/QUOTE] She must have the cardiovascular endurance of a race horse.

[QUOTE=shian;41887940][url]http://gma.yahoo.com/8-old-11-pounds-never-ages-040317717--abc-news-health.html[/url] Soon we all could be like Edward Cullen![/QUOTE] [quote]The little girl from Billings, Mont.[/quote] How convenient, brb gonna run down to the hospital steal her DNA and live forever. Or get arrested. I'll let you guys know regardless.

She'll probably start to suffer all manner of organ troubles as she gets older unfortunately. As said, aging is not the same as developing. It's like people who grow extremely tall, there are almost always negative side affects... I'm very curious though to see how she does over the years. I wonder how her mental functions will develop - will she forever be confined to have to be cared for like a baby, or will she eventually gain enough motor skills and mental capacity to take care of herself to some degree? It's kind of a scary thought to imagine developing well mentally and still being stuck in that body.

This won't help us gain immortality because, unless I didn't see it, her cells still have a limited number of divisions.

[QUOTE=Kyle902;41888246]This won't help us gain immortality because, unless I didn't see it, her cells still have a limited number of divisions.[/QUOTE] this won't help us gain immortality because you could still be hit by a bus

[QUOTE=stupid07er;41888403]this won't help us gain immortality because you could still be hit by a bus[/QUOTE] Immortality and invulnerability are two separate things, but together? Super hero.

[QUOTE=stupid07er;41888403]this won't help us gain immortality because you could still be hit by a bus[/QUOTE] Death-proof armor. Duh.

[QUOTE=Alex_DeLarge;41888001]This would be great if we could trigger it in people once they've reach their prime (20ish)[/QUOTE] 30 would be better for men IMO.

[QUOTE=Quark:;41888551]Immortality and invulnerability are two separate things, but together? Super hero.[/QUOTE] Only to end up [url=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AndIMustScream]here[/url]

Man... I can't even begin to imagine how much trouble they'd have trying to convince the bouncer that you're not using a fake ID.

Good luck finding the one base pair that results in this condition out of the 2.8 Billion

[QUOTE=draugur;41888018]Having to raise a baby for 8 years straight, I think we just found what hell is like.[/QUOTE] My older brother has cerebral palsy, he's bed ridden and incontinent, he's full grown and my mom changed his diapers for 22 years. You have no idea.

[QUOTE=RichyZ;41888712]curing the age problem wouldn't really crowd us, we people have a tendency to kill eachother off or die by the elements, or a virus that wants to fuck us up getting rid of the downsides of age has pretty much no downsides[/QUOTE] Would natural causes really be reliable enough though? The world population as it is already has more people being born than people who die every minute, and the human population as a whole continues to grow in numbers. If we significantly reduced the number of people who die of old age, how would we know if our rate of growth would not get out of hand?