Protein linking exercise to bigger, stronger muscles discovered

Jack Boyd

December 9, 2012

C-Even

Ms. Davies

For an article:

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2012, December 6). Protein linking exercise to bigger, stronger muscles discovered; Finding might lead to new therapies for muscle-wasting diseases. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 9, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121206121728.htm

Researchers at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute discovered a protein that has the ability to increase muscle mass and muscle power. They were able to isolate this protein which is found in humans and mice. It is most commonly found in the skeletal muscles Such as biceps, triceps, deltoids and many other muscles. After isolating this previously unknown protein, scientists tested it on mice and found that their muscle mass and strength increased more than normal and that the protein could be very beneficial for muscle growth. The protein helps muscle endurance rather than growth. This is significant because it might give researchers the opportunity to synthesize a treatment out of this protein. It would most likely treat muscle atrophy and other related diseases.

This discovery is significant to society because of its potential to cure muscle diseases such as muscle atrophy and be able to help older people whose muscles often deteriorate making it harder for them to accomplish even the most basic tasks. Not only will it help older citizens, it may prove to be quite useful to hospital patients who often endure muscle atrophy after coming off a long period of bed rest and cancer patients, who are the most common victims of muscular diseases like muscle atrophy. Society would be better off as a whole because this protein, when synthesized, may have the ability to help members of society maintain their physical strength and even increase it. This will help society function better as a whole.

This article, while very informative, is very hard to comprehend. I found that it was increasingly hard to understand the language the writer was using. Myself not being an expert on all the different proteins in the human body found myself scouring the Internet for definitions of the terms and names they gave throughout their article. Nonetheless it was a very interesting and informative article providing insight on the development of an important cure for certain muscular diseases whose victims include people of old age, cancer patients, and hospital patients.