The Rarest Humans Who Have Ever Lived

The Rarest Humans Who Have Ever Lived Somewhere out there are real people whose bodies break the rules the rest of us are born with. A man whose bones are so dense he cannot be injured the way you can. A baby born with the strength of someone many times his age. A woman who may see one hundred million colors where you see one. A blind man who navigates the world using sound, exactly like a bat. These are not comic book characters. They are documented, real human beings, each carrying a rare genetic gift, or a rare genetic curse, that pushes the limits of what a human body is supposed to be able to do. We tell the true stories of Timothy Dreyer, Liam Hoekstra, Concetta Antico, Jill Price, Daniel Kish, Ben Underwood, Eero Mäntyranta, Steven Pete, Dean Karnazes, and Stephen Wiltshire. Every one of them proves the same astonishing thing. The limits we all think are fixed are, in a few rare people, quietly broken. SOURCES & RESEARCH: Timothy Dreyer — born with sclerosteosis, an extremely rare condition (~100 known cases) that prevents the body from stopping bone growth, producing exceptionally dense, strong bones; his condition helped researchers develop the osteoporosis drug romosozumab. The condition also carries serious risks from bone overgrowth (nerve/skull pressure). (Sources: Bloomberg; ScienceAlert.) Liam Hoekstra — born with a myostatin-related condition causing extreme muscle growth; as an infant showed extraordinary strength (an iron-cross hold at ~5 months), with roughly double normal muscle mass and very low body fat. Myostatin research is a major target for muscle-wasting treatments. (Sources: Associated Press; ABC News.) Concetta Antico — a functional tetrachromat; a fourth cone type gives her the potential to distinguish vastly more colors than the typical person (estimates up to ~100 million vs. ~1 million); genotype confirmed 2012, studied by UC researchers; she is the only known tetrachromat working as a professional artist. (Sources: BBC; Unive