Find out, thanks to whom this non-anabolic drug can gain incredible muscle mass and start a strong process of protein synthesis. Not so long ago, scientists have established a rather interesting fact regarding muscle growth. Many athletes are not satisfied with their progress and scientists believe that a substance called myostatin may be to blame. It was discovered more than five years ago and received the name of the growth and differentiation factor 8. In experiments on animals, it turned out that myostatin slows down the growth of muscle tissue.
More precisely, it turned out that the absence of a gene in animals that is responsible for the synthesis of myostatin leads to a sharp increase in muscles even without physical activity. Surely you want it that way. Today we will find out if the anabolic super drug of the future can be created.
What is myostatin?
Myostatin is a protein compound, for the production of which a specific sequence of DNA genes is responsible for almost all vertebrates. Myostatin begins to be synthesized at the embryonic stage of development and continues to work throughout life. The main function of the substance is most likely to regulate muscle growth and prevent excess muscle mass.
A large mass is not an advantage in terms of ability to survive and it is probably for this reason that nature invented myostatin. The effect of myostatin on the body of animals has been studied quite well, but with people the situation is somewhat more complicated. It is known for certain that in some diseases the rate of production of the substance increases, for example, in HIV patients, the muscles begin to break down under the influence of myostatin.
It was also possible to establish that myostatin begins to be actively synthesized in muscle injuries. If muscle tissue is damaged, then it must be healed and myostatin acts as a regulator of the healing process. After training, muscle tissues are also damaged and satellite cells, after activation, interact with fibers, thereby ensuring the elimination of damage and, accordingly, tissue growth. Without control of this process, over-treatment is possible, and scientists are sure that it is to prevent this situation that local production of myostatin occurs. However, almost all talk of myostatin today is theory and requires further study.
Probably, myostatin in the body plays a role similar to the special skin factors that control the healing of skin wounds. If these factors are synthesized in small quantities, then a large scar is formed, which is called a keloid. Scientists speculate that myostatin plays a similar role in muscle tissue.
Scientists in New Zealand conducted one study that examined the effects of myostatin on the body of an adult. It is safe to say that this substance controls the growth of muscle tissue, but what is the mechanism of its work has not yet been established. In this regard, the question arises - is it possible to create a drug that, due to inhibition of myostatin production, will promote the growth of muscle tissue? In theory, this is possible, but with certain reservations. The so-called "myostatin blocker" may well become a powerful anabolic agent in the future.
If it is created, then steroids and growth hormone will become irrelevant. With a sufficient level of development of genetic engineering and the emergence of an opportunity to influence the desired genes, this can be done and the technologies for the production of such a drug have already been created. But on the other hand, interference with the genetic mechanism of the body's work can have very serious consequences. While scientists are studying the mechanisms of myostatin and possibly creating a blocker of this substance, athletes need to train as before.
Learn more about myostatin blockers from this video from Lee Priest:
