Myostatin is a protein that slows muscle growth. Animals such as the Belgian Blue and Piedmontese cattles lack the gene for myostatin and are very muscular. Wendy the Whippet is an excessively muscular whippet who also lacks myostatin. When mice are genetically engineered to not express myostatin they become true mighty mice.  Some years ago a young German boy who lacks both copies of the myostatin gene was reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. He had extraordinary muscle development in the first year of his life.

Now researchers have found that a gene that produces a natural blocker of myostatin, follistatin, when injected into thigh muscles in monkeys causes them to become remarkably bigger and stronger. The muscles were 15 % larger and nearly 80% stronger. This research was published in Translational Science Medicine.The researchers were at Ohio State University. Previous studies have found that antibodies to myostatin produce the same effect in mice.

The BOTTOM LINE: Genetic approaches are being developed that may well help people with a variety of muscle diseases. In addition these may well improve strength in older persons who are frail. Of course, the problem is that these will also be used by baseball players and other athletes.  As the genes once injected stay around forever it may be difficult to determine who is and who isn’t cheating. Watch out for those baseball players who do the Barry Bonds thing of going from skinny to excessively muscular over a single off season.