Do Your Genes Make You A Better Athlete?

There has been a recent interest in athletes and whether or not their genes affect their performance. Access to this type of genetic information can help predict athletic abilities. Everyone has their own DNA structure which makes them unique. Even though repetition and practice can create muscle memory for your body, your genes can have an influence on what you are capable of compared to others. A somatotype is another term for 'body type' and there are three defined somatotypes. Ectomorph body type is an example of someone that has a very fast metabolism, but have trouble putting on muscle which results in low body fast. Endomorph body type is an example of someone who has a slow metabolism which allows them to put on body fast and muscle more quickly than others. Mesomorph body type is an example of someone who has a fast metabolism, and active muscle cells that promotes muscle growth. All three body types are different in their own ways, but an individual can have a mix of more than just one body type which also makes them unique. Most professional athletes or people who are involved with their health should know their body type in order to create a safe training plan with exercise, diet, etc. This way there can be effective results that are desired. To summarize, your genes do not limit your athletic abilities, however, knowing you body can help improve athletic performance and overall wellbeing.  

Ancient Gene Mutation May Have Made Humans Well Equipped for Long-Distance Running

A new study that was published in Proceedings of the Royal Academy B proposes that due to a gene mutation that occurred millions of years ago, human beings all share an innate aptitude for long-distance running. The research was led by cellular and molecular physician Ajit Varki and his team. Their findings link the hominid transition from forest-dwellers to upright walkers of the African savannas straight to a gene called CMP-Neu5Ac Hydroxylase (CMAH for short).


Animals such as cows, mice, and chimpanzees carry a functional form of the CMAH gene. CMAH helps to produce the sugar molecule sialic acid, and all of these animals can produce two different types of the acid. Modern humans have a mutated form of this CMAH gene which causes it to be “broken”, and so they can only produce one type. In previous studies, this broken gene has been associated with severe muscular dystrophy, increased risks of cancer, and type II diabetes. However, Varki and others make the argument that its effects are not entirely negative, but that this mutated gene may have been what shaped humans into outstanding long-distance runners.


This gene mutated in our ancient ancestors about 2-3 million years ago. At this same time, these hominids were undergoing a change in their lifestyle in which their behavior became much more like modern humans and less primitive. Additionally, physiological changes were occurring – from larger feet, to strong gluteal muscles and long, powerful legs. These better adapted hominids were thus able to run for extremely long distances, enduring the brutal heat of the sun and exhaustion superior to the animals around them. This enabled them to practice the effective strategy of persistence hunting.


The physiological and behavioral changes can be seen quite clearly in one of our early ancestors – that of Homo erectus, “Upright man”, who lived between 1.89 million and 143,000 years ago. On the upper end, this widespread hominin was 6’1 and 150 pounds. While his brain was still somewhat smaller than ours, he was a quite intelligent and crafty survivalist. His body was built very similar to modern humans, with characteristic long legs and short arms relative to the torso that would have been well suited to endurance running. He would have very likely have acquired the CMAH gene mutation that we humans carry today.


To test their hypothesis, the research team subjected two groups of mice to run on small treadmills. One group had functioning CMAH genes, while the other had broken ones. The latter group was observed to have 30% greater endurance, ran 12% faster, and went 20% further than the mice with the functioning CMAH gene. After these tests, the mice’s muscles were analyzed by physiologist Ellen Breen, one of the co-authors of the study. She discovered that the mice with the mutated gene were better resistant to fatigue. Moreover, Jillian Mock of Popular Science stated that these mice were also able to process oxygen more efficiently.


Ultimately in their study, the team came to the conclusion that the CMAH mutation probably could have been key to hominids running faster and further. Nonetheless, as other scientists have pointed out, it is still too early to say for sure if the link between the mutated gene and human propensity for long-distance running exists, but future research should bring us closer to the answer.

Pregnant Runners = Child Runners?

Exercise trends come and go like trains at Grand Central Station, but running seems to be a constant favorite for many. There have been many studies done on the health benefits of running, but there has never been a study that correlates mother runners having produced offspring runners, until now.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University of Houston have conducted a study with pregnant mice and their offspring. The study consisted of a group of pregnant mice being able to run on their wheel freely while the other group of pregnant mice had their running wheel locked. Once the offspring were born and weaned, they were placed in separate cages from their mothers. The offspring were closely monitored throughout their lives. During their childhood there were not much differences until they hit adolescence. At that point in their lives those born to mothers that ran started to become runners themselves. As the mice got older they became more and more enthusiastic about running.

The researchers have concluded from the results that the mother’s physical activity during pregnancy had a likely affect of the offspring having the want for the physical activity. Though they have made this correlation through research with mice, it is not clear if humans would have the same affects. It is also not clear as to how having a mother run while pregnant is affecting the offspring to become a runner.

Though there are many un-answered questions due to the immaturity of the research, it is an interesting concept. Once the researches figure out if the same affect on mice happens with humans, they would next have to figure out how it is actually happening.

Cannaboids the legal way; exercise!

David Raichlen, an anthropologist at the University of Arizona, suggests that after many years of evolution, our brains have encouraged us humans to perform high-aerobic activities, such as long distance running (Link). These activities are found to enduce a "runners high", or cannaboid chemicals in our brain.

This may explain our inherent instinct to run after animals; not only for the prize of meat, but also for the prize of this paleolithic cannaboid high, which is produced from aerobic activity. He tested his theory with various other animals and published it in The Journal of Experimental Biology; although it was not conclusive due to not enough animal testing, it may be promising in the future to understand evolutionarily how we as humans were encouraged to hunt.

"The Forest Gump Gene"

Geneticists at the University of Pennsylvania have recently discovered a gene that governs the ability to run in mice. This gene is not extremely complex, but it codes for very curious behaviors in its subjects. Mice that express this gene can run for miles and miles on their exercise wheels without showing signs of exhaustion. This makes a 26.3 mile marathon for a human seem like an everyday occurrence to them. What is even more interesting is that the mice run without external stimuli.

This means that the mice run to run, but why is it this way for them. The gene that is responsible for this mutation is actually removed for the mice to run. IL-15R Alpha is a gene responsible for the synthesis of fast twitch muscles. These muscles consume large amounts of oxygen and fatigue quickly. Without the gene the muscles in the mice act more like slow twitch muscles which fatigue slowly. I found this article to be interesting and entertaining, but I don't really see the scientific value of applying this gene. But it is none the less entertaining.

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