News of the cool: Superboy
Written by: Beck
It's not often that you get to watch
evolution in action. It always seemed strange to me that some of the great apes are so much stronger than humans, even holding constant for things like muscle mass and limb length. One German boy could well be on the way to catching up.
A genetic mutation made a Berlin boy extra strong, but the German doctor who has been studying the child since just after his birth nearly five years ago says he's just a regular kid.
The boy doesn't stand out among his peers on the playground, but when he puts his mind to it, can perform feats of strength, said Dr Markus Schuelke...
Schuelke began conducting tests, and found over the course of five years that the boy had a genetic mutation that boosts muscle growth.
It is the first human case where a mutant DNA segment was found to block production of a protein called myostatin that limits muscle growth...
The boy, whose name Schuelke has promised not to divulge, has muscles twice the size of other kids his age and half their body fat.
I mean, how cool is that? Now all they need is to find the gene that allows humans to shoot lasers out of their eyes, and I'll be ready to start having children of my own.
