20岁的不老女婴临终仍是宝宝容颜
Passedawayat20
BrookeGreenberg,whobaffledscientistsbecausesheneveraged,hasdiedattheageof20,neverhavingdevelopedbeyondthephysicalsizeofaninfantorthementalcapacityofa2-year-old. BrookeisoneofaboutadozenchildrenintheworldwhohavewhatsomecallsyndromeX--akindof BenjaminButton disorderthatpreventsthemfromaging.
享年20岁布鲁克*格林伯格的不老之谜困扰着科学家，她20岁去世时，从未超过婴儿的体型或2岁儿童的心理能力。布鲁克是世界上十几个孩子中的一个，他们患有所谓的"X综合征"疾病,一种本杰明巴顿病阻止了衰老进程。
Butonlyherhairandfingernailsgrew.
Brookehasbeenpushedaroundinastrollerallherlife.Shedidn'tspeak,butshelaughedwhenshewashappy,andclearlyrecognizedherthreesisters. Inherfirstsixyears,Brookewentthroughaseriesofmedicalemergenciesfromwhichsherecovered,oftenwithoutexplanation.Shesurvivedsurgeryforsevenperforatedstomachulcers.Shehadaastrokethat,weekslater,hadleftnoapparentdamage. At4,shefellintoalethargythatcausedhertosleepfor14days.
但只有她的头发和指甲在生长布鲁克一生都被推在婴儿车里。她不会说话，但她快乐时会笑，并且清楚地认出了她的三个姐妹。在她人生的第一个6年，布鲁克经历了一系列急诊，她从中恢复，往往没有任何解释。她从七次穿孔性胃溃疡手术中幸存下来,几周后她又中风了，没有留下明显的脑损伤。4岁时，她陷入嗜睡状态，睡了14天。
Doctorstrytounravelthesecretsofeternalyouth.
Dr.RichardWalkerhasfollowedBrooke'scasesinceshewasabout2yearsold. "Insomepeople,somethinghappenstothemandthedevelopmentprocessisretarded." Brookestillhadbabyteethatage16. "There'vebeenveryminimalchangesinBrooke'sbrain,"hesaid.Physiologicalchange,orwhathecalls"developmentalinertia,"isessentialforhumangrowth.
医生试图解开青春永远之谜理查德沃克博士自从她2岁就跟踪此病案。“某些人身上发生了一些事情，生长过程也受到了阻碍。”布鲁克16岁时仍长着乳牙。“布鲁克的大脑变化非常小，”他说.生理变化,或所谓的“发育惯性”对人类的成长至关重要。"
Dr.Walkerfounddamagetooneofthegenesthatcausesdevelopmentalinertia.HealsosuspectsthemutationsareontheregulatorygenesonthesecondfemaleXchromosome. "Ifwecouldidentifythegeneandthenatyoungadulthoodwecouldsilencetheexpressionofdevelopmentalinertia,findanoff-switch,whenyoudothat,thereisperfecthomeostasisandyouarebiologicallyimmortal."
沃克博士发现了导致发育惯性的其中一个基因的损伤。他还怀疑突变是在第二条雌性X染色体上的调控基因上。如果我们能识别该基因，那么在成年时,我们可以关闭发育惯性的表达，找到一个开关，当你这样做时，有完美的稳态，你在生物学上是不朽的。