Slashdot Mirror
Mutation Creates SuperKid
Tzarius writes "It's not exactly regular Slashdot fare, but the NYTimes has a story about a kid in Berlin (now 4 years old) who was born with naturally massive muscles. It's not a new condition, but it apparently hasn't been recorded in humans before. It also looks like the cause is a suppression of the myostatin protein, which could be reproducible." Reader Spazmasta adds "A gene that blocks production of a muscle-limiting protein (called myostatin) has been found in a abnormally muscular German baby. This news comes apparently 7 years after researchers at Johns Hopkins created 'mighty mice' through a related approach, turning off the gene that produces the muscle-limiting protein. I, for one, welcome our new myostatin-free overlords."
he was born to become the governor of California!
Can you get him to give me my car back?
The Governator has been playing away from home
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
i expect it to be a sitcom-esque situation, where the baby lifts the family car when it gets stuck in the mud.
Reason, free market capitalism, and individualism
I'm not kidding!
Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
Someone told me he's weak to kryptonite...
and believe me later.
...as there seems to be little evolutionary pressure to supress myostatin in the normal population.
KHAAAAAN!!!!!
R: That voice. Where have I heard that voice before? B: In about 365 other episodes. But I don't know who it is either.
Ok, two things about this story are amazing.
Firstly, that a 4 year old toddler can hold 3 kilo individual handheld weights, straight out.
Secondly, that 'many adults' can't hold that much weight. My leatherbound volume of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy has to weigh AT LEAST that much. What the hell is wrong with people?
Well, lets just hope Xavier gets to him first.
-Peter
Let me guess.......Bam-Bam?
Courtesy of Yahoo here.
Bush Lies On the Record.
I think it goes a bit far to claim that this mutation has NEVER been found in humans. Sure, there may not be any popular hospitals with records of this mutation, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that this mutation happens about every 5-10 years in small areas all around the world.
For an example, there was a kid in my teeny little high school who had a muscular growth mutation. His muscles grew so much so fast that he had regular surgery to remove the excess lumps and knots of muscle. He didn't resemble a body builder. He looked like a mutation with lumps all over his body and scars where they had done surgery. I read this article and wondered if he has the same mutation.
The previous comment is purposely vague and generalized, but all of the facts are completely true.
It's a good thing this kid wasn't born in Germany in the mid-to-late thirties.
What I want to know is:
A. How soon will myostatin inhibiting pills become available and:
B. How soon before jock dads start feeding them to their toddlers.
3D Printing Tips and Tricks at Zheng3.com
If in most humans there is a process that actively limits muscle growth, then there must be a downside to being muscular... I wonder what it is.
Muscle doubling in cattle with the same gene was publishedin 1997, with extraordinary photos of a Belgian Blue bull: HERE
Products that claim to regulate myostatin are already used by many athletes and bodybuilders.These guys are always ahead of the game.
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.
The cover story in the July Scientific American is about genetic enhancements of muscle. (They havent put the article online free yet.) The thrust is finding an inhibitor for the muscle-growth inhibitor called myostatin. In the article is a picture of a bovine lacking the myostatin gene. It is so bulked up, that it looks like a cylinder of meat with a nose and four hooves sticking out.
I like the fact that they're already touting this as an advance for athletics. That is, until people find out that (for example) it increases ALL muscles, including the heart, which'll then overgrow and collapses at the age of 35. There's a reason why mutations don't happen all the time.
Does he turn green when he's having a tantrum?
I am adding this to my spam filter now.
boycott slashdot February 10th - 17th check out: altSlashdot.org
From the article
There was no information on the baby's father
Second Coming of Christ! This time, he's kicking your ass!!
Rapid Nirvana
Agreed, as a graduate student in the biological sciences, I know that there may be numerous complications from this muscle growth. It depends on the exact function of myostatin, but some problems could be:
enlarged heart - much like someone suffering from chronic ostructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This causes the heart to work more and eventually fail
pseudo neuronal degeneration - failure of the nervous system to keep rewiring itself to accomodate the new muscles. This would lead to all sorts of failure in motor control, and eventual paralysis
These are just two that I can think of off of the top of my head. There may be other, unforeseen consequences. Of course, he could live a "normal" healthy life and get about 20 gold medals in weight lifting.
"Me fail English, that's unpossible." --Ralphie
A few years ago I managed a retail health/nutrition shop. Shortly before I left there was lots of commotion over new research involving certain myostatin inhibitors. Once such product was made from a special marine algae. You can read a review about it here.
Unfortunately, I left the position before I had a chance to discuss with any first-hand users of these things, but it looks like they're still being sold at various web sites, so somebody must think they're working.
they think he could very well use up his 'sattelite cells' (whatever those are) and his muscles would start to deflate at 30yrs...
Photo Here.
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
If anyone bother to RTFA (but hey this is /. so that's too much to ask) it would tell you the hypothesized downside.
Muscle cells are surrounded by immature satellite cells that lie dormant until the muscle is injured. Then they migrate into the muscle, replacing injured or dead cells. A recent paper indicated that myostatin might normally function to keep satellite cells quiescent. Without myostatin, he said, the satellite cells might be so active building muscle that they become depleted early in life.
So they worry that the muscle growth will stop, and eventually reverse without the cells to repair.
Technically your heart is a muscle (okay so not technically but follow me), if your heart becomes too strong wouldn't it in theory screw up your blood flow? Also penis problems come to mind as well as many other things, but they seem to be the two major problems with having overly active muscles.
I like muppets.
My fiance's little brother has MD, a disease where the muscles degrade over time. Eventually, his heart or diaphram will be affected and he will die. Would a myostatin treatment help him by increasing muscle production? I'm not that familiar with his condition, so maybe some doctors or future doctors could help.
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
From this MSNBC article:
The boy has two copies. He could (absent an extremely unlikely second identical mutation on the other copy of the same gene) only get one from his mother. The other had to come from his father. The mutation is very rare. The mother has four male relatives with one copy of the mutation. The identity of the father has not been disclosed.
Anyone care to connect the dots?
I'm not pointing this out to be cruel or catty; I'm pointing it put because it's a good example of what's called the "founder's effect", a mechanism by which mutations -- by definition unique or nearly unique events -- became part of a general population.
Since this child has two copies of the mutation, not only are phenotypic effects greater -- he's even more muscular than his mother who has a single copy -- but all of his children will have at least a single copy, like his mother.
Were the conditions for founder's effect stronger -- that is, if he were a member of a smaller and more isolated population than modern Germany -- one can easily see how inbreeding could result in the mutation becoming common throughout that population.
When two persons with a single copy of the mutation breed, one-quarter of their offspring (on average) will have, like the child being studied, two copies of the mutated form (or allele) of the gene (and no copies of the gene's normal allele), one-quarter will have two copies of the normal allele, and one-half of the offspring will have, like the mother, one mutated allele and one "normal" allele.
But when a person with two copies breeds with a person with a single copy, one-half the offspring (on average) will have two copies of the mutation, and one-half will have one copy of it.
So if there's any preferential benefit to having the mutation -- if those with the mutation do better and so have more offspring -- and if there's the in-breeding of founder's effect, the mutation should become common in the founder population.
Indeed, it's likely that founder's effect, along with environmental conditions, explains why Germans and other Europeans, despite being descended from Africans 40,000 years ago, are white rather than black: being white is bad under the Africa sun, as, unprotected, it will lead to skin cancer and death by about age twelve. But being black in the weaker sunlight of Europe prevents the metabolization of vitamin D, leading to the weakened bones of rickets. In Africa, mutations that lead to less melanin production and whiteness also lead to death -- but in Europe it allowed a longer, better life.
But how did lessened melanin production and "whiteness" spread in Europe? Likely through founder's effect in small and isolated inbreeding populations -- but certainly not because of any "Aryan" superiority.
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
This kid was designed to beat up Slashdotters, in high school.
-Patrick
"They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
But it might be a cure for muscular dystrophy.
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
There's normally a reason for having a tight regulation of muscle growth in animals, as there's a reason for regulating cell divisions and changes that lead to growth and proliferation overall in all sorts of multicellular organisms (otherwise you'd be just a big blob of tumour).
So, taking out that regulatory protein myostatin will not perhaps be the healthies thing to do if you want to increase muscle size, as you'll just probably end up getting a heart-attack and all sorts of other nasty muscular problems with the most essential muscle tissues you have (heart and intestine at least). This sort of issues occur in GM-modified cattle with the similar myostatin mutation very regularly, and human as another not-too-distant mammal will probably not be any more safe from these problems.
As someone who has muscular dystrophy and has a mother who is severely disabled by the same disease, this makes me very hopeful. Although the article specifically warns that they don't know what the long term effects of this disease are I think you would find that most people suffering from muscular dystrophy would gladly take 30 years of a somewhat "normal" life compared to being doomed to watch my body waste away for lack of a viable treatment. That said, I'm still very skeptical of this discovery. There are over 40 types of muscular dystrophy, not to be confused with multiple schlerosis, which may be affected to varying degrees by myostatin. One thing that the article didn't mention was that even with myostatin it's not possible to regrow muscle with our current technology. So what is already lost may be permanently lost, yet even a 25% improvement or even arrested development of the disease would be welcomed by many of us in the MD community.
For anyone who's wondering about the uses of treatments for blocking myostatin, here is an article you might want to read.
Myostatin and Myostatin Inhibitors: The Next Big Supplement Scam
I don't know if this is the first human w/o muscle-inhibiting protein.
I once saw a program on Discovery about the guy whos muscles grew indefinitelly, even w/o any physical activity. He had to have them removed surgically from time to time.
I'm not sure if that was the same condition, but I don't think I'd like to have it.
Robert
Bastard Operator From 193.219.28.162
They happen 'all the time' -- often enough -- but they mostly just don't result in an advantage that'll make you more successful, natural selection wise.
You'd have to think, though, that dying at 35 might not stop some people. Tonight's the NBA draft. There's a 7 foot-5 inch European center who'll get taken mid-lottery or so. The kid has a growth hormone problem, diagnosed, that he's being treated for; teams regard it as an advantage, pretty clearly. Andre the Giant didn't live to old age, but he sure could pull down a paycheck in the meantime. If you take a look at steroid use, you'll see a bunch of people who might think this'd be worth it...
...making them less likely to reproduce and have their children reproduce, probably, unless the gruopie factor outweighs the difference. Selected against, on balance.
(I love the popular idea that natural selection and evolution are constantly "improving the product." Super muscles! Rabbits get faster and faster, snakes get more and more poisonous! -- that idea. Sometimes the faster rabbits run out and get eaten by hawks before their more cautious friends. Sometimes a big brain means you're more likely to kill your mother during childbirth, reducing your chances of thriving and reproducing yourself. "Better" in that 6 Million Dollar Man sense isn't necessarily an evolutionary advantage at all.)
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
A recent paper indicated that myostatin might normally function to keep satellite cells quiescent. Without myostatin, he said, the satellite cells might be so active building muscle that they become depleted early in life. ... will his satellite cells be used up so that his muscles start to deflate when he is 30 or so?
I'm wondering if that could be it. But then getting weak after age 30 doesn't sound like a big deal to me because humans' reproductive peak occurs well below that age. Any bio people have a clue about any other possibilities?
In general, I'm with the parent poster on this one - more is not always better, and there is likely a down side to this. However, as humans really can't say one way or the other. Perhaps you need this mutation AND another one, two, or 12 to really be "better". Even a "bad" mutation may be good when taken with another set of modifications we don't know about. Embrace genetic diversity.
I see a strange, fragile comic book dealer in this kid's future.
--- Ban humanity.
He's not taking any performance-enhancing substances. If he goes into weightlifting, and gets good at it, can he go to the Olympics?
I wonder what effect the blockers would have on the human body in zero gravity.
*It's not what you can do for the Dark Side but what the Dark Side can do for you!*
I hate to sound the banjo alarm, but I suspect the easiest way for these genes to double up in the bairn would be in a case of incest.
Eep. Wonder if they are recessive?Ok folks, while genetic mutations happen, sometimes they are bad. In the horse world there is a halter horse known as 'Impressive'. He was what the particular comunity was looking for, massivly muscled, very high definition etc. Well since he won just about everything that he was entered in, he was bread to many, many horses. The gene that causes this is a dominate so it is passed along with about a 50% chance. The problem comes when a horse has this on both sides, he developes etc then he will die, quite a painful death. It was called 'Impressive Syndrome' for the longest time. They re-labled to be HYperkalemic Periodic Paralysis. This link is older but gives a decent background in it. The key point I am making here is that it's the gene is responsible for myostatin production. I truly hope it doesn't affect humans in the same way. It has gotten to be so bad they require testing of all of the known decendants of Impressive to be tested for HYPP, and if either side has the defect, they are not allowed to be bread (AQHA and APHA in particular). If they are, then they cannot enter the events (no $$,$$$,$$$.$$). They are intentionally trying to kill off this gene. Since the liniage of most registerd horses can be traced back several hundred years, it gave a powerful way to research this one in particular.
User not found: Please check the world and try again.
I am kind of surprised no other /.'er mentioned this possibility, so I will. Wasn't a limiting factor to space travel always considered the shriveling of muscles?
In Zero-gravity, muscles atrophy rather quickly. Perhaps mystatin inhibition is part of an answer? If there was less Myostatin present in a given astronaut, perhaps muscles would rebuild themselves at a given rate. The rate would certainly vary with dose and individual, but I think there may be a possibility here for removing a serious limiting factor for long, manned space voyages.
Research must be done, but what does everyone here think?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/health/chi- 040624baby-photo,1,7431047.photo has a photo of the kid's legs. You might have to register. Hulk smash.
the major advances in civilization are processes which all but wreck the societies in which they occur - A.N. White
Faster rabbit -- sometimes runs out and gets nabbed by a hawk when the more cautious ones are holding back.
Higher metabolism and endothermism -- requires more energy to keep going. (Similar cost for huge muscles.)
There's a popular idea that things are getting "better" through natural selection and evolution. The things is, our ideas of what "better" would be are usually kind of silly and superficial. "Better adapted" is probably the way to think about it.
Imagine a genetic trend toward, say, bolder, more aggressive personalities, as Nazi eugenicists would have wanted things to go. People who aren't afraid of life, who'll go out and seize it and try to change things for the better! Great, right? Except maybe a more cautious social nature is a heck of a good thing, given how complex human society is. Maybe personalities like that would be a disaster: wars, instability in our societies, and so on.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
A picture from a Danish newspaper. He is 7 months old at this picture.
Wasn't there (I suppose there still is) a Marvel character called Juggeernaut where this was his mutation?
Will this guy be allowed to compete in the Olympics when he grows up?
Are we going to accept this guy or make him an outcast like the X-Men series predicts?
So many unrelated questions so little time.
I tried for 5 years to come up with a clever sig...only to realize that I am not clever.
I can just see his parents putting green makeup on him for Halloween some year after he sees The Hulk for the first time...
If you can read this sig, congratulations, you have your glasses on!
After googling for myostatin, it looks like there have been other cases of this. It sounds like different specific mutations of this gene produce varying levels of inhibition; this kid is just an extreme case.
:)
;)
Also, although the scientists are moving cautiously on this, the bodybuilding-supplement industry has already jumped on the bandwagon (as usual). There's already a "natural" product (their quotes) on the market that claims to block myostatin. As always, I take their claims with several pounds of salt
Obviously I'll wait for the real scientists' findings, but a drug for this could be a real lifesaver for the modern geek^H^H^H^H white collar worker. Basically it causes your body to spend all its extra resources building & fueling muscle, instead of growing fat cells and dealing with hyperglycemia. We'd all be in great shape; that is, until the inevitable post-apocalyptic famine hit
Let's all hope the doctors and scientists have good luck. They are trying to figure out how to save this child's life. If left the way he is, his heart will become too thick to stay functional.
This condition has been documented in animals, which have all died at a fairly young age.
This is just this child's misfortune to be the first documented human case.
Get a free ipod.
Barney and Betty's kid? How about a reality check. Consider the following from one of the articles:
They probably couldn't get ahold of the father because he was doing the laundry, taking out the trash or washing dishes, if he knows what's good for him!
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
When asked why he was destroying the town, the boy replied "Stan bad! Bechomp bechomp, bechewie chomp, bechewie chomp."
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
If drugs come out to block this protein, of course it's going to be abused by people.
I forget what it's called now, but there is a condition where your heart can grow too big inside your chest, and your ribcage and organs press on it and cause all sorts of problems. People who take steroids are susceptible to this condition.
I'm fairly active, and I used to take creatine before workouts. I started having chest pain and went to the doctor, and he was telling me that could be the problem, especially since I was using creatine. An X-ray showed I was fine, but it does happen to people, and I would think the abscence of this protein would surely make one more likely to have the problem.
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> evolution was not a beauty contest. ("Chicks dig muscular guys! I want to be muscular too!") It was about tuning an animal to be able to at least survive its environment
Hence the dazzling fan of the peacock, which the peacock uses to beat it's prey to death in a frightening, yet fashionable, display of evolutionary fitness.
There are many examples of evolution in weird directions for better sexual selection. For example song birds, fireflies, and Bill Clinton's exaggerated male chin.
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
We're not talking NBA- or NFL-muscular here. This kid may grow so much musculature that he will have trouble walking in a straight line later on. Physical handicaps are seldomly ever a "chick magnet".
I love C++
He grows up to have damaged skelatal structure, heart problems and will probobly die before he's forty and all the while biotech companies have patented his DNA, reaped massive benifit and he hasen't seen a cent, let alone a euro.
You doubt me. Call me back in 2050 and we'll see.
May the Maths Be with you!
Drugmaker Wyeth, based in Madison, N.J., already has begun human tests of a genetically engineered drug designed to bind to and neutralize myostatin, said spokeswoman Natalie de Vane.
Wow, can Steve Rogers' SuperSoldier formula be far behind?
...I can say that they have some of the tastiest steak on the face of the planet...really lean, but yet still very, very flavoursome.
I am NaN
The Krauts are at it again. Colonel Hogan already knows and has formed a plan to blow up the secret superbaby factory.
I am actually experimenting now on myself with a myostatin blocker. It is commercially available from
/day (good to rent an office with Gym use included ;) )
:>
....
& hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi/ /images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8 &q=myostatin+&btnG=Search
:)
Cytodyne Technologies (same company who sells Xenadrine an Ephedra based (lately in the US ephedra free fat burner))
Anyway, the product is called Myo-Blast CSP^3.
Anyone interested might consider Juiced Protein from Pinnacle (pretty OK taste compared to other protein shakes)
Why ? Why not. I am not a Gym freak, but I do st 45-60 minutes weight training +
40-60 minutes cardio
While I am against steroids I happily take an algae based product or bioengineered protein
as a little experiment - at the end probably they makes less harm than a bigmac
ahm + I am a vegetarian who does lotsa sports so extra protein is welcome
for those who might wonder: myostatin is responsible for skeletal muscle! Your tongue, and your heart muscle won't grow bigger than it is if you block that enzyme (I hope it really)
I recommed these searches "myostatin cow" : http://images.google.com/images?q=myostatin%20cow
myostatin:
http:
cheers
A genetically superior Arian!
Of course, I had the same thought about the "miraculous virgin birth" when I learned about parthenogenesis.
"A witty saying proves nothing." ~Voltaire
"d'Oh!" ~Homer
While this is (for the most part) true, until very recently it was exceedingly rare for an average human individual to have sufficient food for this sort of mutation to be preferable. Even then, this is only in Western society; most of the world's population still don't get very much protein in their diets.
WWD4D?
The reason small groups of humans were cut off from each other was a supervolcano that caused a nuclear winter effect for many years, killing off most humans and keeping the rest separate long enough for superficial traits to become geographically dominant. This article on the Toba supervolcano talks about this theory:
Oh, and Yellowstone is a supervolcano that is overdue in its pattern of going off every 600,000 years:Seven years ago, they create myostatin-free mice. Three years later, a child is born with the same "mutation". Also, there is no record of the father to verify parentage or that he contributed the other gene.
...
If I were a researcher who had solved the various difficulties (heart problems, etc.) with the process, and I wanted a secret human trial, I'd find a mother which already had one gene as a cover and make sure there was no information available on the father to give away the fact he did not contain the other gene, or falsify it if there were. Then, I'd act real surprised when the baby was born.
It could be legit, but the rarity of the mutation makes the whole thing sound suspicious to me
Translation: "Hi. I'm Hans, and I am here to 'Pump you Up!'"
"He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
Hey There,
...
... ... ... ...
Okay
You can't just throw out phrases like
Massive muscles
Overlords
Super Kid
And not provide any pictures!?!
I want pictures!
Inquireing minds want to know,
-- The Dude
Damn! I wondered whatever had happened to that lady after she had escaped out of my testing laboratory located deep underground in a remote location.
Luckily, I just sent my best agents to "collect" this child and do more genetic testing on him, as he obviously has far surpassed his mother.
Muhahahaha! Soon I will rule the world with my mutant armies of 4 1/2 year olds!
There is in fact a major disadvantage that you may not be aware of.
There is a finite number of times each cell in your body can replicate itself. Excessive muscle growth WILL limit the maximum lifespan of a life form, and it limits the lifespan of humans as well.
This is part of how limiting caloric intake increases lifespan, it literally reduces the overall cellular growth of a lifeform.
I don't read or respond to AC posts
She was working for Jabba the hut... He will bring balance to the force.
*If it is more than likely that someone with this condition would live only to a normal middle age, then wouldn't it be best for these people to be placed into jobs that require great strength and endurance, but with limited life expectancy? Firefighters, police enforcement, farmers, factory workers, and the army, all staffed with these "supermen".
/fear
/sarcasm
* Taking it a little further, wouldn't it be best to selectively breed this trait into a controlled population to produce an expendable workforce? Have this boy, at the age of sixteen, breed with, say, female prison inmates? Use him in cloning research? Produce large lots of him, creating a whole new subclass of humanity. Modify his genes to limit his intellect, and condition his childhood to instill loyalty, and this new class of people will never revolt, and we, the normals of humanity, will guide their actions to better our lives.
* Add to this scenario just a little more: After experiencing the reign of George Bush, a normal/below average intelligence man trying to run the country, it might be best to breed a class of humanity best suited to rule over others: highly intelligent, long lives, and pleasant to look upon. They too will be conditioned, to make them loyal to America, to humanity, to social stability.
* And we, the normals, are left in the middle. A permanent, middle class, unable to amount to anything grand, but also unable to fall through the cracks of society. Those that cannot produce will be "removed" from the world, into breeding programs, or worse. Everyone will have their place, and society would be perfect.
Damn, I love this brave new world.
3 degrees of separation from Vladimir Putin
THE EVERLASTING MAN
.
G.K. Chesterton
[ TABLE OF CONTENTS ]
PREFATORY NOTE
This book needs a preliminary note that its scope be not misunderstood The view suggested is historical rather than theological, and does not deal directly with a religious change which has been the chief event of my own life; and about which I am already writing a more purely controversial volume. It is impossible, I hope, for any Catholic to write any book on any subject, above all this subject, without showing that he is a Catholic; but this study is not specially concerned with the differences between a Catholic and a Protestant. Much of it is devoted to many sorts of Pagans rather than any sort of Christians; and its thesis is that those who say that Christ stands side by side with similar myths, and his religion side by side with similar religions, are only repeating a very stale formula contradicted by a very striking fact. To suggest this I have not needed to go much beyond matters known to us all; I make no claim to learning; and have to depend for some things, as has rather become the fashion, on those who are more learned. As I have more than once differed from Mr. H. G. Wells in his view of history, it is the more right that I should here congratulate him on the courage and constructive imagination which carried through his vast and varied and intensely interesting work; but still more on having asserted the reasonable right of the amateur to do what he can with the facts which the specialists provide.
* * *
INTRODUCTION
THE PLAN OF THIS BOOK
There are two ways of getting home; and one of them is to stay there. The other is to walk round the whole world till we come back to the same place; and I tried to trace such a journey in a story I once wrote. It is, however, a relief to turn from that topic to another story that I never wrote. Like every book I never wrote, it is by far the best book I have ever written. It is only too probable that I shall never write it, so I will use it symbolically here; for it was a symbol of the same truth. I conceived it as a romance of those vast valleys with sloping sides, like those along which the ancient White Horses of Wessex are scrawled along the flanks of the hills. It concerned some boy whose farm or cottage stood on such a slope, and who went on his travels to find something, such as the effigy and grave of some giant; and when he was far enough from home he looked back and saw that his own farm and kitchen-garden, shining flat on the hill-side like the colours and quarterings of a shield, were but parts of some such gigantic figure, on which he had always lived, but which was too large and too close to be seen. That, I think, is a true picture of the progress of any really independent intelligence today; and that is the point of this book . .
[ . . . ]
* * *
PART I. ON THE CREATURE CALLED MAN
* * *
I. THE MAN IN THE CAVE
Far away in some strange constellation in skies infinitely remote, there is a small star, which astronomers may some day discover. At least I could never observe in the faces or demeanour of most astronomers or men of science any evidence that they have discovered it; though as a matter of fact they were walking about on it all the time. It is a star that brings forth out of itself very strange plants and very strange animals; and none stranger than the men of science. That at least is the way in which I should begin a history of the world, if I had to follow the scientific custom of beginning with an account of the astronomical universe. I should try to see even this earth from the outside, not by the hackneyed insistence of its relative position to the sun, but by some imaginative effort to conceive its remote position for the dehumanised spectator. Only I do not believe in being dehumanised in order to study humanity. I do not believe in dwelling upon the distances that are supposed to dwarf the world; I think there is even someth
IC XC NIKA
As your Subject: line says, evolution IS a beauty contest -- at least, in large part. Vast numbers of the traits of organisms are a direct result of sexual competition, or of sexual competition in combination with some other, more necessary, survival trait.
You don't think female humans have breasts that large because mammary glands take up a lot of space, do you? Even the flattest-chested woman can breastfeed her children handily. The breasts of apes are all pancake-like, yet they work perfectly well. No, large human breasts are mostly fat -- and they're that way because human men like them that way.
As for why men like them that way in the first place, check out some of Desmond Morris's work sometime.
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
...because in Nazi Germany, baby spanks you!
testing out my trending skills
Actually read above and beyond the article. In horses this condition is called Impressive Syndrome.
Get a free ipod.
This is stuff out out of a sophmore year biology class. The limiting factor is a part of the DNA strand known as a telomere.
it is generally theorized that the purpose of limiting cellular replication is it limits cancer, ie a single mutated cell shouldn't replicate forever.
Here are several medical journal articles you can look up on The National Library of Medicine regarding limiting caloric intake, and several microcellular observations regarding the DNA replication process.
Miller RA, Extending life: scientific prospects and political obstacles. Milbank Q 2002 ;80(1)
Sreekumar R, et al, Effects of caloric restriction on mitochondrial function and gene transcripts in rat muscle. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2002 Jul ; 283 (1) / E38-43
Jolly CA, et al, Life span is prolonged in food-restricted autoimmune-prone (NZB x NZW)F(1) mice fed a diet enriched with (n-3) fatty acids. J Nutr 2001 Oct;131(10):2753-60.
Hansen BC, et al, Calorie restriction in nonhuman primates: mechanisms of reduced morbidity and mortality. Toxicol Sci 1999 Dec / 52 (2 Suppl) / 56-60.
I don't read or respond to AC posts
I don't think you understand evolution. Evolution is not an improvement in a population, it is simply a change in the DNA of a population due to random genetic mutations. By applying the fairly obvious observations that organisms that survive and procreate, do, organisms that can't survive and/or procreate, don't, you can see that the population will always be fairly well suited to its environment. Admittedly, it's been a while since I've read up on evolution, so correct me if necessary. And also, neither evolution nor natural selection require a change in the amount of DNA information and don't make statements about progress.