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Researchers Create "Mighty Mouse" With Gene Tweak
cylonlover writes "He can't fly just yet, but a team of scientists have made a big step towards creating a real-life Mighty Mouse. By tweaking a gene that normally inhibits muscle growth the researchers created a batch of super-strong mice and worms. The scientists acted on a genome regulator — known as NCOR1 — and were able to change the activity of certain genes. In simpler English, the scientists shut off the thyroid hormone that keeps most mammals from turning into the Incredible Hulk. The result was a strain of mice with muscles that were twice as strong as normal."
according to the article, the mice with unchecked muscle growth also gained speed and endurance beyond a normal mouse. They even provide some video showing how well a supermouse can perform on a treadmill vs a normal mouse. They had cute little mouse treadmills.
The article also notes that they have not yet identified any negative effect on the mice. In fact, they say the super mice are all around healthier.
There may be some negative aspect (beyond needing more food), but TFA makes it sound like this process does indeed produce a superior quarterback. At least it does in mice.