Make Your Muscles Twice as Strong!

We use our muscles every day for simple tasks like walking  or difficult physical activities like lifting weights. However, there are many that cannot live a normal life because they have a difficult time performing even the simplest tasks. These people include the elderly, the over weight, and those who suffer from muscle degeneration. But a recent discovery by the researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found the reason for those who suffer from muscle weakness. In this article, the researchers discovered the inhibitor that is responsible for muscle strength and the genome regulator responsible, NCoR1. They tested their discovery on mice by genetically suppressing NCoR1. Their results were the production of "mighty mice," mice with twice the muscle strength, ability to run longer distance before fatiguing, and better tolerance to the cold. As of now, there have been no signs of any negative side effects, and although the experiment involved genetic modification, scientists are developing medicine that can modify and reduce the muscle inhibitors. This discovery will definitely help those who suffer from muscle weakness and have the inability to perform simple daily tasks. However, this discovery raises the interest of athletes and weight lifters who wants to use the medication to gain an advantage in competitions and for personal uses. I find the discovery very helpful for medical purposes, but this will also cause another dilemma with athletic uses and create another controversial issue similar to the steroids use issue.