Gene Mutation Found In Muscle Man Toddler

[theHandpuppet]

Gene Mutation Found in Muscle Man Toddler

By LINDA A. JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer

Somewhere in Germany is a baby Superman, born in Berlin with bulging arm and leg muscles. Not yet 5, he can hold seven-pound weights with arms extended, something many adults cannot do. He has muscles twice the size of other kids his age and half their body fat. DNA testing showed why: The boy has a genetic mutation that boosts muscle growth.

The discovery, reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, represents the first documented human case of such a mutation.

Many scientists believe the find could eventually lead to drugs for treating people with muscular dystrophy and other muscle-destroying conditions. And athletes would almost surely want to get their hands on such a drug and use it like steroids to bulk up.

The boy's mutant DNA segment was found to block production of a protein called myostatin that limits muscle growth. The news comes seven years after researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore created buff "mighty mice" by "turning off" the gene that directs cells to produce myostatin.

More at... http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MIGHTY_MUSCLE_GENE?SITE=OHCIN&SECTION=HOME

[newscaster]

1. Thats all fine and good....but....

with the recent disappearance of telephone booths, this kid is going to have to wear his superman suit under his regular clothing and in summertime, this could give he a super rash and make him super cranky and before you know it, Lex Luthor is not the only one he begins punching out!:nuke:

[joeybee12]

2. It's Bam-Bam!

Ask if they've got another kid named Pebbles.

[Frangible]

3. Sounds like it could cause problems, too

What happens when muscles like the heart, eye muscles, etc, get too big?

[GAspnes]

4. related article in Scientific American

Gene Doping
Gene therapy for restoring muscle lost to age or disease is poised to enter the clinic, but elite athletes are eyeing it to enhance performance Can it be long before gene doping changes the nature of sport?

http://sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=1&articleID=000E7ACE-5686-10CF-94EB83414B7F0000



BELGIAN BLUE BULL demonstrates the effect of blocking the antigrowth factor myostatin. A natural genetic mutation in this breed produces a truncated, ineffective form of myostatin, which allows muscle growth to go unchecked. The absence of myostatin also interferes with fat deposition, making these "double-muscled" cattle exceptionally lean.