The curious case of Brooke Greenberg might lead to scientific discoveries beyond the imagination – or it might baffle doctors forever.  The 20-year old New Jersey girl died this week, having never developed beyond the physical size of an infant and the mental development of a two-year old.

Brooke’s funeral was Sunday at a synagogue outside Baltimore.  She never learned to speak, but she laughed and giggled when she was happy.  She still had baby teeth, and couldn’t walk without assistance.  She survived a brain tumor that seemed to disappear on its own, and a stroke as if it didn’t happen.  Only her hair and fingernails grew.  Doctors called her condition “Syndrome X” – so rare, maybe a dozen children in the world have ever experienced it.

Dr. Eric Schadt, director of the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York said “Brooke Greenberg, even after her sad passing, may help to reveal answers to one of the major mysteries in human biology:  Why do we age and is there any way to slow or suspend the aging process?” 

Her father Howard Greenberg had earlier said that science must unlock the secrets of her DNA, which is unlike anyone else’s.

“So eventually, at the end of the rainbow, there will be something that comes out of all this.  I believe everyone is here for a reason.”