Check this out.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/06/24/muscle.gene.ap/index.html
Was the marriage prearranged? Were the parents modified somehow or selected to both have the mutant gene? How long will the kid live? His heart is probably working twice as hard as the rest of the kids his age.
I’m not an animal rights activist, but I think we should leave the poor animals’ genes alone.
I wonder how many times that kid is going to be called the hulk.
hmmm…can the gene be ineffective in only certain places? ie ive always had huge legs, gluts, and shoulders, way bigger than any of my friends(i attend a highschool of 4000, and this is minus one person who is in excess of 300 lbs), even in sedentary times or when i did a lot of jogging and basketball?
I’m sure he’ll have a succesful career as a bodybuilder or powerlifter if he wants to do that kind of stuff considering his genetic predisposition.
This gene mutation has a variation found in certain groups of people from Western Africa. I remember reading about this in Scientific America many years ago in a special issue of the magazine, in which genetics and sports were discussed. They were trying to show that muscle fibers classification are not just the main determinant of performance but many other variables.
Or a sprinter, olympic weight lifter, gymnast, footballer, tennis The list is endless. His potential is massive. He could do very little strength training in comparison to others, and have more time for event specific work.
I’m afraid that his heart is gonna be overworked and fail before he could even start something…
the doctors are obviously very concerned about his health and heart
I have a feeling this condition is probably like a muscle version of acromegaly (excess GH, giantism). I think this poor kid is more likely to be almost deformed looking rather than a Greek god. Remember those pictures of the myostatin mutant mouse and cow? Their muscles looked more like tumors. They did not look even remotely normal.
This seems a little too timely. A child, presumably 3 or so years old presents with a syndrome never before viewed that is remarkably similar to animal models that were presented with the same syndrome no less than 5 or 6 years ago? Additionally, the indroduction of several myostatin-related products about 3 years ago? Hmmm…
Could this be an example of genetic engineering? I hear Germany has some pretty skillful engineers 
From what I have read, this mutation is not unheard of. Testosterone magazine discussed the fact that many top professional bodybuilders have a genetic abnormality that blocks the myostatin gene that inhibits muscle growth. There is even a supplement produced by Biotest that claims to partially block the production of myostatin. Never tried it myself.
Yeah, they claimed it. Victor Conte claimed that his magic zinc/magnesium was generating his results too. The Chinese running coach claimed it was turtle blood. The real reason in all cases is a violation of the board’s TOS.
Biotest has also quietly discontinued their supplement because it was crap and didn’t do anything. Myostatin is mainly involved with developmental growth anyhow (and possibly the kind of wasting you see in stuff like AIDS); unless you block it from birth on, it’s not going to do anything.
Lyle
Yes you are correct. Some groups in Western Africa carry this mutation of myostatin. This has been known for years. Its just that this baby has the double gene which has expressed itself so strongly.