Sammy Basso, the Longest-Living Survivor of Progeria, Dies at 28

WCJB ^ | Oct. 9, 2024 | Andrew McMunn

[nickcarraway]

The longest-living survivor of progeria has died at the age of 28.

In a Facebook post, the Progeria Research Foundation announced that Sammy Basso passed away Saturday.

“Sammy was the embodiment of kindness, warmth, resilience and wisdom, serving the Progeria community with many years of outstanding dedication to scientific progress toward the cure for Progeria,” the organization wrote in a Facebook post. “He will be forever missed.”

Progeria is a rare disease that causes rapid aging in children and adults.

Experts say those diagnosed with progeria often appear normal at birth but grow much more slowly and don’t gain the expected weight. The condition also increases the chances of heart attack and stroke.

Those with progeria often only live to about 14 years of age, although some people can make it well into their 20s.

Basso was born in Italy in 1995 and received his progeria diagnosis at the age of 2, according to the Progeria Research Foundation. When he was just 10 years old, he became an ambassador for the foundation and was the first to join the organization’s clinical trials, which were testing the first-ever treatment for progeria.

Along with being a spokesperson for those with progeria, Basso would study the sciences in college, graduating from Padua University in 2018 with a degree in Natural Sciences. He also delivered a thesis on a genetic editing approach in HGPS mice.

He would graduate with a second degree in Molecular Biology in 2021 when he delivered a thesis on the intersection of Lamin A and Interleukin-6, which is an approach for treating progeria, according to the Progeria Research Foundation.

In an obituary for Basso written by Eric Boodman of STAT, Basso was described as having an incredible sense of humor.

Boodman said Basso knew the rare disease made him look unusual, with a bald head, no eyebrows and looking prematurely aged, but that often used his appearance to aid in his jokes and make people laugh.

“As one of the oldest known survivors of progeria, an ultra-rare disease, his life was utterly unlike other people’s, but he lived it with the conviction that he could connect with anybody, be it the trick-or-treating kids of Frederick, Maryland, the pope, or the masterminds of gene editing,” Boodman wrote.

[al baby]

Well that sucks prayers up

[Governor Dinwiddie]

What is a biologist from Italy doing in Frederick, Maryland, home of Fort Detrick Chemical/Bio Warfare Lab?
This was the origin of the anthrax attack in 2001. That's a weird obscure place for an even more obscure Italian biologist to show up.

[Disambiguator]

At first I thought the headline was about a band. I had no idea about progeria.

[Albion Wilde]

What is a biologist from Italy doing in Frederick, Maryland, home of Fort Detrick Chemical/Bio Warfare Lab?

His Wikipedia page says “In 2006, the Basso family also joined a progeria clinical study programme at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where the Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) is based. At that centre, the complete collection of data on Sammy's organs and apparatuses was carried out for the first time for research purposes.”

Maybe they knew some people up in Frederick; or maybe NIH sent him up there for some examinations. There's also a locally famous Italian-fusion restaurant in Frederick, Volt, operated by one of the Voltaggio brothers who once competed against each other on Top Chef.

NIH at red dot with white cross just NW of DC; Frederic is up the road about 30 miles. Interestingly, Apple Maps won't show you Fort Detrick or Camp David. It's NW of Frederick.