Getbig.com: American Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure
Getbig Main Boards => Gossip & Opinions => Topic started by: shiftedShapes on February 19, 2007, 04:14:18 PM
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http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0226/074_print.html
A brawny infant's mutation has set off a hunt for a muscular dystrophy drug.
The child was the talk of the Neonatal Ward at Charite Hospital in Berlin, Germany. His biceps and and thighs were twice as thick as a normal newborn's despite typical height and weight. He looked like he'd been lifting weights in the womb.
This was in 2000. The child's doctor called in pediatric neurologist and geneticist Markus Schuelke. He thought the boy might have had a muscular disease but then remembered that Se-Jin Lee, a Johns Hopkins University geneticist, had produced overly buff mice by knocking out the gene for a protein called myostatin, which is supposed to slow muscle growth. Schuelke thought here was the first evidence of a myostatin mutation in a human.
Four years later the world heard about the boy for the first time, when a group of researchers including Schuelke and Lee proved the boy had a myostatin mutation. By then the child could hold a 7-pound dumbbell in each of his outstretched hands. One writer to the New England Journal of Medicine speculated that the mythical Hercules was a myostatin mutant, too.
The news about this rare mutation precipitated an intensive effort to design drugs--call them myostatin blockers--that would let muscles flourish without onerous side effects. The work holds the most promise for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a debilitating and deadly disease diagnosed in 600 American children, almost all boys, every year. Corticosteroids and heart-failure drugs have allowed some patients to survive into their 40s, but they are still strapped to ventilators and require round-the-clock care.
"This is a like a bright light in a fairly dark tunnel," says Patricia Furlong, founder of Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy. She lost two teenage sons to Duchenne. The research also offers hope for patients with Lou Gehrig's disease and age-related weakening.
Myostatin was discovered in mice in 1992 in Lee's Johns Hopkins lab. In 1996 he proved its importance by showing that mice without the myostatin-producing gene got twice as big. The next year he discovered that the bulging Belgian Blue cow was a myostatin mutant, the first of eight prized cattle breeds later found to have the mutation. The company he had cofounded, MetaMorphix, is working on manipulating myostatin to beef up livestock. Wyeth picked up the rights to develop a drug for humans. Its experimental antibody drug produced bulked-up mice in 2002, and results of a trial in adults with muscular dystrophy are expected as early as March.
Already there are concerns that the drugs might be used by athletes as a kind of supersteroid, and dietary-supplement companies have introduced knockoffs made from sea algae for that purpose. "They don't work," says Schuelke.
Schuelke and Lee still see room for failure. Side effects could crop up, and Lee's work shows that real muscle growth may require a broader attack than the Wyeth drug's targeted approach, because there are a host of mysterious myostatin-like proteins that also dampen muscle growth. Lee doesn't know how many. Acceleron Pharma is set to begin human trials on a drug that mimics a cell receptor that could disable many of the myostatin-like proteins. The Cambridge, Mass. firm has raised $56 million from venture funds, including Polaris Venture Partners and OrbiMed Advisors.
Schuelke continues to see the muscular boy he found in Berlin seven years ago. Though there were fears that his heart might get too thick, the boy is completely healthy. He's strong but no longer abnormally so. It may be that myostatin's effects are most dramatic during fetal development, but that's one of many guesses in this genetic mystery.
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Schuelke continues to see the muscular boy he found in Berlin seven years ago. Though there were fears that his heart might get too thick, the boy is completely healthy. He's strong but no longer abnormally so. It may be that myostatin's effects are most dramatic during fetal development, but that's one of many guesses in this genetic mystery.
This is the part that makes me less optimistic. Maybe he will blow up when he hits puberty. This should be interesting
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This is the part that makes me less optimistic. Maybe he will blow up when he hits puberty. This should be interesting
Amazing. It almost scares me what the 2017 Mr. Olympia is gonna look like.
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Actually the first reported case was a man in England and the scientist who actually put a name to this gene.
I am very sorry i cannot put a name to this documentry but it was in the Mid to late 90s, i have tried to find a name to this documenrty and searched the internet for this documentry but no luck sorry.
To put along story short the Documentry was about a guy who developed excess muscle in his legs and had to have muscle removed from his legs from just walking, very scary shit,he had this mutant gene and the scientist found in blood testing.
Anyway you look at it there will be a sythetic drug to replicate this gene if there is not one all ready(China Olympics).This drug will happen there is no doubt in my mind with muscle heads walking around at 300 pounds without lifting a weight.Scary shit but when they find a cure for Muscular Dystrophy there will be Bodybuilders demanding the shit.I for one will be buying stock in the pharmescutical company that finds a cure for MD.For the doubters there being a drug they have been doing it in the lab for a decade.
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Sorry but it going to happen.
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???
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i wish i was this "mutant" boy...
Honestly, i think american army will take control of any research about this as soon as it shows serious results ;
they re going to create exosquelettons too, and soon....
(http://medusav.de.games-workshop.com/introduction/armies/images/marine.jpg)
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Surely this can only be used pre-fertilization? Isnt that the only way to knock out a gene, do it from the first cell division?
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Surely this can only be used pre-fertilization? Isnt that the only way to knock out a gene, do it from the first cell division?
no, gene therapy is all the rage now. That's where the R&D money is going.
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If I remember correctly there was a problem with myostatin gene therapy: the muscles got bigger, but not stronger. Something to do with less and deformed mitochondria, IIRC. So BBers might get bigger, but not stronger.
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That cow is swole.
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If I remember correctly there was a problem with myostatin gene therapy: the muscles got bigger, but not stronger. Something to do with less and deformed mitochondria, IIRC. So BBers might get bigger, but not stronger.
Good thing that's their goal.
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Good thing that's their goal.
On one hand I agree. Yet when I frequent this board I see that the average member easily benches 400 for reps, so apparently most BBers are incredibly strong too.
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On one hand I agree. Yet when I frequent this board I see that the average member easily benches 400 for reps, so apparently most BBers are incredibly strong too.
LOL yeah, we're all 280 lbs of shredded mass who do 500 lbs incline the day before placing at the Mr. O. ;D
Don't believe any stats posted here. There's like 4 guys who have ever backed up what they lift with videos. If you don't see competitor stars just assume it's bullshit...hell, assume it even when you DO see competitor stars or a pro status.
I'm kinda bored, think i'll go put up a grand for a set or "widow makers" ::) ;D
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how long before muscle tech sponsor the cow? ;D
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how long before muscle tech sponsor the cow? ;D
as soon as the cow can get bloated for a before pic.
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There already is a drug... and it can be used post-natally and it doesn't seem to have any side efffects other than the rapid muscle growth (no cardiac muscle growth etc). Those in the know jokingly refer to it by the (pre-emptive) hypothetical name it was given by Dan Duchaine "DORIANABOL".
The Luke
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There already is a drug... and it can be used post-natally and it doesn't seem to have any side efffects other than the rapid muscle growth (no cardiac muscle growth etc). Those in the know jokingly refer to it by the (pre-emptive) hypothetical name it was given by Dan Duchaine "DORIANABOL".
The Luke
Hey Luke please give us more info on this. Any anecdotal evidence, or PICS obviously would be great.
Hoping this is more real than sasquatch
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Can't remember the details offhand, but the research is currently being done in Singapore and the drug has some numerical nomenclature designation RC126 or some such... I'll dig up a link. Animal testing is underway, but they reckon it extrapolates to a gain of 8-10lbs per week for a human...
The Luke
PS-Bigfoot is real... haven't seen one, but I've found tracks and heard them.
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Sorry guys...
There's so much research on monoclonal antibodies these days I couldn't readily dig up the details of the first animal studies... geneticists are only interested in the newest breakthroughs... However I did find a place where you can buy the stuff:
http://www.biocompare.com/informationrequest/177366/item/3194/matrix/Anti-Myostatin-Antibody-Unconjugated-from-CHEMICON.html
...expect a usable dose to set you back about $20,000 a week.
Good luck.
The Luke
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how's the mutant kid doing now, seven years later
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as soon as the cow can get bloated for a before pic.
;D ;D ;D
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how's the mutant kid doing now, seven years later
Take two 13 lb dumbbells and hold them out at arms reach (perpendicular to your body) and hold them for 5 full minutes... the kid did that at 5 years old in his doctors surgery.
The Luke
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This is great news.
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How long will he live? Will his organs and what not be able to adapt to his high muscle levels?
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His mom is a former professional track and field star, his dad is a lumberjack (you couldn't make this stuff up)... they both carry one copy of the faulty gene but seem to be perfectly healthy. Don't know yet about the boy...
The speculation has run rife in genetics circles, the front running scenarios are:
-he'll grow to 5'2''ish, weigh 220 lbs (8% bf) and die young of sudden-onset muscle wastage(exhausting his satellite cell population)
-he'll grow to 5'5''ish and weigh 250-300 lbs (8% bf), but be chronically weak
-he'll grow to 6' and weigh anything up to 350 lbs (8% bf) and look like a shaved gorilla
...some dispute the growth stunting effects of his mutation and expect his growth spurt to continue unabated:
-he'll grow to 7' and weigh 400-600 lbs (8% bf)
...some reckon adolescence (testosterone) might even increase his growth rate:
-he'll grow to 8'ish and weigh 600+ lbs (8% bf)
...this is all speculation though. Nobody as yet has any evidence of this having happened before, but this last scenario is the one my money would be on.
On a sidenote, the first barbarian emperor of Rome, Maximinus Thrax (the Thracian), was reputed to have been 8'6'' tall (which would be 8'3'' converted from Roman inches) and to have weighed 600 lbs despite being lean and agile. He reportedly often ate as much as 40 lbs of meat in a day and drank wine by the casket/barrel... his party piece was to punch the head OFF a living horse, thereby killing it.
The Luke
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How long will he live? Will his organs and what not be able to adapt to his high muscle levels?
The most recent news as of a few months ago was that he is totally healthy and his organs are normal.
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the truth of the matter is, if myostatin blockuing drugs worked, there would be some proof. They have ben testing this shit since 92 and you know they had human trials. There would be some ridiculous before and after photos of people if it really worked the way the supplement companies would have you believe.
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the truth of the matter is, if myostatin blockuing drugs worked, there would be some proof. They have ben testing this shit since 92 and you know they had human trials. There would be some ridiculous before and after photos of people if it really worked the way the supplement companies would have you believe.
No human trials have taken place (at least not that I've read about), because it's hard to justify testing a drug that may well lead to fatal muscle wastage 20, 30 or even 40 years down the line.
Of course if you've read about such studies you could enlighten us, Kegdrainer.
The Luke
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His mom is a former professional track and field star, his dad is a lumberjack (you couldn't make this stuff up)... they both carry one copy of the faulty gene but seem to be perfectly healthy. Don't know yet about the boy...
SURE THEY ARE ...SURE THEY ARE.... CAN YOU SAY LIAR LIAR
Truth of the matter this kid is a biological experiment...something Hitler was trying to perfect as well when he tried using testosterone on German soldiers to pump them up and make them more aggresive in battle. I believe Hitler was the first to use testosterone...
This kid had his myostatin gene deliberately knocked out by scientist to see what would happen. All the scientist did was found a woman willing to carry the experimental child to term for them. The fabricated story followed the birth. How convenient that there has NEVER been another person of whom this has happened to and ironically it happened just as scientist discovered the potential of the myostatin gene just a few years earlier. The same excuse of this gene just happen to be absent in a bull which produced the startling results of a MASSIVE OVERLY MUSCLED BULL. Give me a fucking break with the track star mom and lumber jack dad...Even disney movies don't go that far into fantasy.
C'mon guys get your heads out of your ass...this is science at it greatest and worst. What will become of this kid? Will he grow up to be a freak? Will he die soon? All the animal tests have produced enormous muscles so much so the animal could hardly move and I am certain the strain on the animals heart must have been tremendous, because despite all, the volume of the chest cavity does not increase that much to accomodate a heart that would have to be vastly larger than normal. The kid will die from a simple over worked heart or suffocate as his heart grows so big it impacts his lungs in the limited chest cavity.
On a sidenote, the first barbarian emperor of Rome, Maximinus Thrax (the Thracian), was reputed to have been 8'6'' tall (which would be 8'3'' converted from Roman inches) and to have weighed 600 lbs despite being lean and agile. He reportedly often ate as much as 40 lbs of meat in a day and drank wine by the casket/barrel... his party piece was to punch the head OFF a living horse, thereby killing it.
DAMN the ROMANS lie just as badly as the GREEKS...At least the greeks say it was MYTHOLOGY!!!!
The Luke
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Samson123,
Wow... no really, wow... Hitler, Nazis, conspiracy theories and a really poor grasp of the underlying science...
I don't know what to say, I'm not sure what's appropriate... well, if in doubt:
"Hello Adonis"
The Luke
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well, there are at least a few people that have been taking myostim or similar drugs since they were launched. If the drugs worked, wouldnt those supplement companies use these customers in before and after pics? Or does this shit only work in mice?
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well, there are at least a few people that have been taking myostim or similar drugs since they were launched. If the drugs worked, wouldnt those supplement companies use these customers in before and after pics? Or does this shit only work in mice?
Oh to be young and innocent again...
Every time a new drug or drug therapy is developed supplement companies market some starch powder with a similar sounding name. I'm old enough to remember "IGF-1b" a perfectly legal supplement that worked exactly the same as insulin-like growth factor one... albeit that IGF-1b was taken orally with a dropper and the real drug was intramuscularly injected, prohibitively expensive and withheld from the public pending the human trials.
Since then we've had dozens of other supplement scams... even some mass-market rip-offs such as liquid creatine, again delivered by dropper and again containing none of the active ingredient claimed on the label.
What about homeopathic muscle builders... homeopathic steroids... homeopathic testosterone. All as legal as sugar pills... all EXACTLY as legal as sugar pills.
The only real, proven, in-vivo myostatin blocker is still in the developmental stages... and it costs about $2,000 a week just to keep a lab rat on the stuff.
But, if supplement companies claim to be selling it for $69.95 per month supply... feel free to buy.
Any muscle gain would of course be entirely coincidental... or perhaps due to the placebo effect.
The Luke
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Samson123,
Wow... no really, wow... Hitler, Nazis, conspiracy theories and a really poor grasp of the underlying science...
I don't know what to say, I'm not sure what's appropriate... well, if in doubt:
"Hello Adonis"
The Luke
HITLER NAZIS CONSPIRACY THEORIES???? A little course in German history will inform you of all I have said as being true...Even the history channel did a documentary on hitlers desire to make the ultimate soldiers and therefore used testosterone in hopes of achieveing this.....DIDN'T WORK. testosterone then in its crude form is not like it is today.
So far as the so called GENETIC FREAK BABY...I heard about that a couple of years ago, baby's birth was a couple of years after the initial release of info on this myostatin gene and how deleting it woud cause continuous unnatural muscle growth. Then voila a baby is born without the gene...coincidence???Think not. In any case any intelligent person would question the COINCIDENCE of something occuring right after scienctist have reearched it...even more so when no such thing ever existed before.
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Oh to be young and innocent again...
Every time a new drug or drug therapy is developed supplement companies market some starch powder with a similar sounding name. I'm old enough to remember "IGF-1b" a perfectly legal supplement that worked exactly the same as insulin-like growth factor one... albeit that IGF-1b was taken orally with a dropper and the real drug was intramuscularly injected, prohibitively expensive and withheld from the public pending the human trials.
Since then we've had dozens of other supplement scams... even some mass-market rip-offs such as liquid creatine, again delivered by dropper and again containing none of the active ingredient claimed on the label.
What about homeopathic muscle builders... homeopathic steroids... homeopathic testosterone. All as legal as sugar pills... all EXACTLY as legal as sugar pills.
The only real, proven, in-vivo myostatin blocker is still in the developmental stages... and it costs about $2,000 a week just to keep a lab rat on the stuff.
But, if supplement companies claim to be selling it for $69.95 per month supply... feel free to buy.
Any muscle gain would of course be entirely coincidental... or perhaps due to the placebo effect.
The Luke
You are misinformed as usual.
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Is it really a good idea to have a myostatin blocker? I mean we have it for a reason. I see it in the same way as someone taking a drug that will stop the body from being able to Emulsify lipids in order to lose weight while being able to eat high fat foods.