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Muscles may reveal the secrets of strength

Genetic studies may help assess athletic potential

Avi Blizovsky

Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/musclessurvey.html

Do you eat a lot of iron but the volume of your body does not increase? American scientists may know why. They are looking for the genes that predict whether training will make you a mountain of muscle or leave you the way you are.
If found, the gene sequences could predict athletic potential, risks of losing muscle mass in old age or even those astronauts might lose muscle mass during space flight.
Human muscles contain a pool of stem cells, which are normally in a state of dormancy. Apparently, as a result of physical training or an injury, these cells are awakened and new cells are formed in the muscle. Despite the identical physiological mechanism, humans differ in the muscle response to training - this is due to the genetic differences between them.
The results of a genetic study conducted these days may contribute to dealing with muscular dystrophy diseases and even allow early prediction regarding the future success of beginning athletes - so reports the journal "Nature".
In an attempt to locate the genes involved in determining muscle size and how responsive it is to training, four genes have been identified so far. Researchers at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington are now seeking to identify additional genes that affect muscle building. 1,400 volunteers are participating in a comprehensive study, the results of which will be published later this year. After registration, the muscle size of each of them is evaluated. The volunteers go through a fitness program that includes two training sessions a week, which are 45 minutes long, for a period of three months. More than 900 interested people have already signed up for the study, and they are now locating 500 more, say team leaders Eric Hoffman of the National Children's Medical Center in Washington. After being accepted for the experiment, the staff members guess the maximum weight that each volunteer can add to one of their hands and use MRI devices as a hand to estimate the size of the muscles in that hand.

At the end of the period, the muscle volume of the gymnasts was checked. DNA samples are taken both from a group that includes 10% of the subjects in whom the most significant muscle growth was recorded and from a group of the same size to which the subjects whose muscles grew the least amount belong. In the next step, the DNA was scanned in order to find common genetic characteristics that distinguish the "thugs" from their "weak" friends. Comparing the two groups, the researchers found 25 notable differences in the genes that affect a person's physical strength.

Finding the genetic sequences involved in muscle building may help doctors in understanding the processes of muscle degeneration during aging. In addition, the information may open up to novice athletes the option of examining whether their cells contain a genetic load that will allow them to reach the top. Paul Thompson, the scientist who leads the research, ponders the consequences that this type of test will have on the athletes' motivation: "Could disappointing results of the genetic test take the wind out of the athletes' sails? I do not know".

For information in Nature
He knew genetic medicine
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