DIY genetic engineering tools, such as CRISPR, have enabled individuals to tinker with their DNA and explore alternative treatments without medical supervision – leading to both hopes and concerns among biohackers.
Some practitioners use nutrigenomics to track their genetic susceptibilities for obesity and fatty liver disease, and to follow specialized training and nutrition plans designed to maximize muscle growth.
Injecting the Myostatin Gene
Myostatin genes provide instructions for creating a protein that inhibits muscle growth, helping ensure they don’t get too large. This function of myostatin plays an essential role in humans and research is underway to see whether myostatin could be used as an effective treatment against muscular dystrophies causing weak or wasted muscle tissue; additionally it’s being investigated as potential treatments against obesity as well as other metabolic conditions associated with loss of muscle mass.
Researchers seeking to gain an understanding of how myostatin inhibition could help combat obesity are studying people with naturally-occurring mutations that cause loss of myostatin function, since myostatin has far fewer putative loss-of-function (pLoF) variants compared with many other genes, making it an attractive candidate for long-term genetic inhibition of its pathway.
Studies have demonstrated that humans heterozygous for rare predicted function-disrupting variants in the myostatin gene show significant increases in their skeletal muscle mass that go beyond what can be accounted for by differences in body size alone, and they appear taller on average than noncarriers. These findings indicate that myostatin continues to play an essential role in human muscle regulation after birth and antibody-based myostatin blockers can replicate its effects to create similar gains.
G248A substitution in the prodomain of myostatin alters an interaction between its GF domain and ligand-binding region, leading to tighter binding between this subunit and the ligand binding region and leading to more dramatic decreases in myostatin activity and an increase in muscle mass. Studies on individuals carrying this variant reported decreased fat mass while experiencing significant increases in total body and arm muscle mass as well as enhanced grip strength.
Though myostatin variants may be associated with reduced disease risks, there were no associations between myostatin variants and changes to blood pressure or sugar levels, or adverse impacts on reproductive health that have been observed.
These findings are encouraging as they suggest myostatin inhibition could help treat various diseases characterized by low muscle mass such as heart failure and obesity. However, it must be remembered that this research is still early-stage and must be carefully considered before being implemented clinically.
Dr Ryan also noted that Future Beef farmer members can view their animals’ myostatin status by visiting the “View Profiles” tab under genomic evaluation for genotyped bulls on our website, located under “Genomic Evaluation Tab for Genotyped Bulls.” Myostatin status will appear next to each genotype as shown below. For more insight into how Future Beef farmers use genomic evaluation to select quality stock, watch Rose Goulding and Ger McSweeney’s full webinar here as part of our educational video series designed specifically to assist farmers on their breeding journey!
