Somewhere in Germany is a baby Superman

[Ivan Seeking]

(AP) -- 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. [continued]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/06/24/muscle.gene.ap/index.html

 

[Monique]

My first thought was: myostatin.. and indeed that's the gene. A bull was once created carrying a mutation, this is what he looked like:

http://www.sruonline.com/sports-articles/images/MyostatinBelgianBlue3.jpg

I'm not sure about the medical implications, but it can't be good for the heart.

 

[Chemicalsuperfreak]

German supertoddlers are our superiors.

I, for one, welcome our handsome new toddler overlords.

 

[hitssquad]

Does follistatin effectively reduce myostatin levels

My first thought was: myostatin

You can potentially reduce your myostatin levels by taking the myostatin inhibitor follistatin:

• J Biol Chem. 2002 Oct 25;277(43):40735-41. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/utils/lofref.fcgi?PrId=3051&uid=12194980&db=pubmed&url=http://www.jbc.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=full&pmid=12194980 2002 Aug 22.
  
  The myostatin propeptide and the follistatin-related gene are inhibitory binding proteins of myostatin in normal serum.
  
  Hill JJ, Davies MV, Pearson AA, Wang JH, Hewick RM, Wolfman NM, Qiu Y.
  
  Department of Protein Chemistry and Proteomics, Wyeth Research, 87 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140, USA. jhill@wyeth.com
  
  Myostatin, also known as growth and differentiation factor 8, is a member of the transforming growth factor beta superfamily that negatively regulates skeletal muscle mass (1). Recent experiments have shown that myostatin activity is detected in serum by a reporter gene assay only after activation by acid, suggesting that native myostatin circulates as a latent complex (2). We have used a monoclonal myostatin antibody, JA16, to isolate the native myostatin complex from normal mouse and human serum. Analysis by mass spectrometry and Western blot shows that circulating myostatin is bound to at least two major proteins, the myostatin propeptide and the follistatin-related gene (FLRG). The myostatin propeptide is known to bind and inhibit myostatin in vitro (3). Here we show that this interaction is relevant in vivo, with a majority (>70%) of myostatin in serum bound to its propeptide. Studies with recombinant V5-His-tagged FLRG protein confirm a direct interaction between mature myostatin and FLRG. Functional studies show that FLRG inhibits myostatin activity in a reporter gene assay. These experiments suggest that the myostatin propeptide and FLRG are major negative regulators of myostatin in vivo.
  
  PMID: 12194980

 

[Dagenais]

The Germans mutating a better, stronger baby?

Does it also have blonde hair and blue eyes?

 

[recon]

My first thought was: myostatin.. and indeed that's the gene. A bull was once created carrying a mutation, this is what he looked like:

http://www.sruonline.com/sports-articles/images/MyostatinBelgianBlue3.jpg

I'm not sure about the medical implications, but it can't be good for the heart.

A recent issue of the Scientific American had an article about Gene Doping. In it was a picture of what I think is the exact same cow.