A fictional affliction suffered by
J. F. Sebastian in Ridley Scott's film
Blade Runner. The
syndrome is characterized by accelerated
decrepitude in humans:
Pris: How old are you?
J.F.: (sighs) Twenty-five.
Pris: What's your problem?
J.F.: Methuselah syndrome.
Pris: What's that?
J.F.: My glands, they grow old too fast.
Methuselah syndrome is named after a biblical character mentioned in Genesis 5.21-27. The son of Enoch and the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived to the ripe old age of nine-hundred and sixty nine, making him the oldest person in the bible. He was also the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Adam and the grandfather of Noah.
According to William Sanderson—the actor that portrayed J.F. Sebastian—part of his character was based on a film he saw of a child afflicted with progeria, a terrible disease that prematurely ages children.