New 'Mighty Mouse' Formula Found

mystyc writes to tell us that scientists at Johns Hopkins have improved upon their original "mighty mice" discovery. Teamed with the biotech firm MetaMorphix and pharmaceutical company Wyeth, they have found a new agent that interacts with the muscle-limiting protein myostatin that was able to trigger a 60% increase in muscle size after just two weekly injections.

Comments

Gotta love the scroll wheel.

[PopeOptimusPrime]

Please move this to the Apple section :P

Investigation...

[daddyrief]

Congress better look into this. If baseball players can't do this, mice shouldn't be able to either.

new market?

[mr_stinky_britches]

So will this only be used for already sick people, or are we going to have to test for it in sports in the next decade?

Re:MLB

[IdleTime]

They can read???

What happened to the heart?

[BerntB]

Increased heart size is dangerous, right? This increase all muscles, so...

What are the effects on the heart?

Give some to the depressed hamsters?

[pedantic bore]

Wait, let me patent that idea, first.

Keeping Score

[Nerdposeur]

So, for the obligatory recap, we're looking forward to: Mice that are really strong, don't age (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/ 18/2133229&tid=214&tid=14), can regrow damaged limbs (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/ 01/0035245&tid=99&tid=14), and have no fear (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/ 18/0644240&tid=191&tid=14).

I, for one, am investing in explosive mousetraps.

Re:Keeping Score

[ViX44]

They regenerate, and you want to blow them into pieces? Cut up some starfish while you're at it.

Abstract / free full paper link

[Frangible]

ABSTRACT: Myostatin is a secreted protein that normally functions as a negative regulator of muscle growth. Agents capable of blocking the myostatin signaling pathway could have important applications for treating human muscle degenerative diseases as well as for enhancing livestock production. Here we describe a potent myostatin inhibitor, a soluble form of the activin type IIB receptor (ACVR2B), which can cause dramatic increases in muscle mass (up to 60% in 2 weeks) when injected into wild-type mice. Furthermore, we show that the effect of the soluble receptor is attenuated but not eliminated in Mstn(-/-) mice, suggesting that at least one other ligand in addition to myostatin normally functions to limit muscle growth. Finally, we provide genetic evidence that these ligands signal through both activin type II receptors, ACVR2 and ACVR2B, to regulate muscle growth in vivo.

Full journal article (PDF)

Athletes... nature's willing guinea pigs.

[Scrameustache]

are we going to have to test for it in sports in the next decade?

Decade? I give it months.

normal people

[rayde]

so my question is this... if something like this is proven to be safe in humans, allowing large increases in muscle growth, will it ever be available to the public? if not... why not?

Steroids have long been banned in sports because they can have catastrauphic side-effects, and pro atheletes are often seen as role models. however, if a product came out that could dramatically strengthen humans, without nasty side-effects, for what reason shouldn't the average person be able to go out and in two weeks have significantly larger muscles? should it be regulated? and if so, why?

there are ethical implications here... the haves vs. the have-nots... those who can afford to increase their muscle mass using the products would perhaps become a superior segment of the human race. imagine a scenario where western countries and their super-citizens gain a distinct physical advantage over the less wealthy countries.

yet think of the productivity gains that would be possible in manufacturing, construction, or other physically intensive occupations. strengthening your workers could bring huge advantages.

it's a very interesting issue, i'm sure one that we'll see popping up again in the future.

Re:Mighty Mouse Theme

[Class Act Dynamo]

Dear Mr. Mouse,

I am writing in regards to your inquiry about compensation for your recent affliction of horrible cancers. I am afraid we must reject any request for compensation. If you will refer back to the release you signed before submitting to our experiments, you will find that you stated that you understood all the risks and possible side effects of the injection and would not hold Johns Hopkins responsible for any adverse effects. In summary, I am sorry about your sickness; and I hope you can see that while this injection will eventually bring about your untimely death, you were able to dispense some mouse justice prior to your illness.

Sincerely yours,

G. Figley Whitesides
Attorney at Law

No miracle pill here

[Valdrax]

Well the number one through three issues I can think of is whether or not it increases tendon and ligament strength. I'm pretty sure if all it does is block myostatin that it doesn't do either. If not, then you run the risk of having muscles way too strong for your joints.

Of course you run this same risk if you leap right into weight lifting with low-rep, heavy-weight work without spending the time to strengthen these joints with high-rep, low-weight work first.

On the other hand, since this almost certainly does nothing for neuromuscular response, you'll also end up with a lot of large but mostly useless muscle mass that's untappable for you.

In other words, don't expect this to substitute for working out for anyone who's not trying to stave off the decay of their existing muscles.

Wrong

[Seoulstriker]

Heart muscle is also striated. However, the cardiac myocytes are not multi-nucleated and the pattern is more zig-zaggy. Nevertheless, if the cardiac myocytes were not striated, the muscle just wouldn't have enough force to contract and propel blood through the chambers and the peripheral vasculature.

I'm still waiting on the published research...