Teddies Talks Biology Issue 2 February 2017

The Belgium Blue and a Little German Baby

Max Thompson - L6th

gene means that myostatin cannot be synthesised in the German super baby resulting in uncontrollable muscle growth. In a Belgium Blue cow this is the same situation, double muscle. Belgium Blue were breed after the Second World War as a source of meat. They bred a Friesian Diary cow and a Durham Shorthorn which

The question that needs to be asked is: what do a Belgium Blue (a cow) and a German baby have in common? It’s easy to name the simple things such as blood and organs but that’s very boring. What’s interesting is the genetic mutation they share. Around the turn of the 21 st century a baby was born in Berlin. This baby was described to have “chiselled biceps” and “tight skin” around his legs and calves. This was not baby fat but instead the ba- by was twice as strong as a normal baby. He was born completely healthy, just with this abnormal strength. This strength continued and by age four, it was reported he could hold 3Kg dumbbells horizon- tally at arm’s length. However, it wasn’t as if this strength came from nowhere. His mother was a sprinter and both his father and brother were strong. Yet the interesting part is his grandad, who was a construction worker. This man is claimed to have been able to lift 150Kg curb stones from truck beds with his bare hands. This strength is known as dou- ble muscle, which is due to a genetic mutation in chromosome 2 on a gene named GDF-8. GDF-8 is responsible for the production of a protein called myostatin which stops muscle growth. This faulty

resulted in a Belgium Blue. As shown in the photo below, the cow has extremely great amounts of mus- cle as they have no stop sign for muscle growth. Un- derstanding this mutation could potentially help peo- ple with muscle diseases such as mitochondrial dis- ease, which is when the mitochondria in cells do not function properly. This means muscles can’t operate correctly. Despite the beneficial side effect of this faulty gene, there is the issue of people trying to use it as a form of muscle enhancement in elite sports. Dr Se-Jin Lee, who has been researching this muta- tion, has been contacted by elite athletes wishing to abuse this technology. A final interesting point is that they have done work with mice in which quadruple muscle was created. Mice were injected with a transgene that produces the muscle building insulin-like growth factor, IGF- 1, and they had no gene for myostatin. The result was quadruple muscle (the incredible hulk of mice).

Issue 2 | February 2017

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