[TC2]

Hey folks,

I found this video on youtube, which I believe was taken off a discovery channel show where they ask the question.  (Can certain superheroes really exist?)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kfNCyZlVTtw&feature=related

I figured the FMG fiction writers would be interested in checking this link out, as most of the information inside it can easily be translated into an FMG story.  Without even realizing it, I had already did something like this with one of my stories before I even knew this gene, which could turn people into super muscular beings even existed.

Enjoy!

[gblock01]

Very interesting. I've heard about this work in the past, but I hadn't realized that they had made enough progress for this. If they can already do this with mice, then it is very likely that they have a treatment for humans, albeit a risky one. It would be fun to see what could happen in the future. A specific episode in Batman Beyond springs to mind.

[Fett]

And 50 years ago we were told we'd be living on the moon by now.

These documentaries always make it sound like the future is an easily predicted certainty. Societies change and certain things become less important; the Cold War ended and the space race died with it, and computers (whom futurists thought in the 60s wouldn't progress nearly as much as they have) flourished.

The 'gene', the myostatin gene, ALREADY has appeared in a mutated form in people: Flex Wheeler had it. And he took steroids, trained like every other olympian bodybuilder, and while he looked amazing and grew really quickly, he's not some mega-freak. We've already had people 8 or 9 feet tall, due to the condition of acromelagy. And these people do not last long and have terrible health problems.

It irks me because these 'science documentaries' seem to do fuck all research. They just go, "Hey, dude, conceivably, could you make the Hulk?" "It's POSSIBLE – in theory." "TONIGHT: THE HULK WILL BE REAL IN FIFTY YEARS!"

Instead of doing a proper job of discussing the issues arising, they go for a quick, sensationalist, hack approach of just picking the scariest and/or sexiest thing technology could do in theory, and say it is an inevitable certainty. Irks me.

[cpbell0033944]

And 50 years ago we were told we'd be living on the moon by now.

These documentaries always make it sound like the future is an easily predicted certainty. Societies change and certain things become less important; the Cold War ended and the space race died with it, and computers (whom futurists thought in the 60s wouldn't progress nearly as much as they have) flourished.

The 'gene', the myostatin gene, ALREADY has appeared in a mutated form in people: Flex Wheeler had it. And he took steroids, trained like every other olympian bodybuilder, and while he looked amazing and grew really quickly, he's not some mega-freak. We've already had people 8 or 9 feet tall, due to the condition of acromelagy. And these people do not last long and have terrible health problems.

It irks me because these 'science documentaries' seem to do fuck all research. They just go, "Hey, dude, conceivably, could you make the Hulk?" "It's POSSIBLE – in theory." "TONIGHT: THE HULK WILL BE REAL IN FIFTY YEARS!"

Instead of doing a proper job of discussing the issues arising, they go for a quick, sensationalist, hack approach of just picking the scariest and/or sexiest thing technology could do in theory, and say it is an inevitable certainty. Irks me.

As a scientist, it grates me too.  Mind you, they're talking about IGF-1, not mysostatin.  I'm confident that it will work eventually, but how long it'll take and how far it'll go is another matter.

[alex]

As a scientist, it grates me too.  Mind you, they're talking about IGF-1, not mysostatin.  I'm confident that it will work eventually, but how long it'll take and how far it'll go is another matter.

There is one factor though, which will greatly accelerate progress in this area, which is the large amount of human trials that will exist.  H. Lee Sweeney, one of main scientists involved in this type of research, said that days after the "Schwarzenegger mouse" was made public, there were already multiple calls made to him from athletes and coaches offering to try out.  He said there was even a high school football coach offering to use the "treatment" on his team. 

People will do crazy things to excel in sports. I won't be surprised if we already see this kind of "gene doping" in the 2012 olympics.

[cpbell0033944]

Except that ethics committes, the US FDA, the NHS and government here and multiple other factors just won't let it happen.

[alex]

Except that ethics committes, the US FDA, the NHS and government here and multiple other factors just won't let it happen.

You're only talking about legal trials, in the US.  There will always be illegal doping, not to mention
the fact that these researches could happen other countries, outside the reach of these organizations.
Gene doping would be something nearly impossible to detect, and I'm pretty sure there will large demand  from athletes all over the world to have such a treatment. And where there is demand, there is always supply.

[cpbell0033944]

You're only talking about legal trials, in the US.  There will always be illegal doping, not to mention
the fact that these researches could happen other countries, outside the reach of these organizations.
Gene doping would be something nearly impossible to detect, and I'm pretty sure there will large demand   from athletes all over the world to have such a treatment. And where there is demand, there is always supply.

True, but it'll still take a while for even the illegal types to perfect a human treatment.  TBQH, as long as it doesn't cause the person harm, I'd prefer it to steroids because at least it shouldn't have the same side-effects in women.

[Deadly Pixxxie]

keep it up, boys. you're making my toes curl…in the good way.  8)

[Author]

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