Italian scientist who fought rare aging disease passes away at record age
A rare genetic condition made him age fast but didnt stop him from becoming a scientist. **Sammy Basso** lived till 28 (oldest known with progeria) while helping others and doing research
Sammy Basso a scientist with super-rare aging disease died last month in north-east Italy while having fun with friends. Born in late-95 in Schio he lived way longer than most people with his condition
His life changed when doctors found out he had progeria (happens to 1-in-18-million people) which makes body cells age super-fast; the condition doesnt affect brain development though. At just six months-old his growth slowed down and he never got taller than 4-foot-6 or heavier than 20kg
In mid-2000s Basso went to US for some ground-breaking medicine tests: these helped slow down bad protein build-up in cells. He had doubts about testing new drugs because of his faith but then decided that science was gods gift too. This push made him study hard – he got his bio-science degree bout 5 years ago and started doing research with top-level scientists from Harvard
His short life was full of cool stuff: he made jokes about looking like E.T‚ gave smart talks and started a group to help others with same problem. Friends even made a running team called “Sammys-runners“ that pushed him in wheel-chair during marathons. The Italian president made him a knight in 2019 and Basso kept working on finding cure till his last day at restaurant in Asolo
