Athleticism: Practice makes perfect or is it just good genes?

Researchers at the Institute for Neuromuscular Research in Sydney, Australia have conducted studies recently that show there may be a gene associated with endurance in athletic performance. In order to understand this first you need to know that there are two kinds of muscle fibers, fast fibers and slow fibers. Fast fibers do not need oxygen and are associated more with quick muscle strength and sprinting while slow fibers use an aerobic pathway to do activities that require more endurance such as cross country running. Researchers have found that there is a protein called alpha-actinin-3 that is associated with the fast fibers in your muscles. If alpha-actinin-3 is present then you will be more prone to use the fast fibers and be a sprinter. Yet if there is a mutation on the gene ACTN3 which codes for alpha-actinin-3 then there are higher levels of enzymes associated with aerobic metabolism found in fast fiber's which causes them to behave more like slow fibers. Researchers are also connecting the gene with different populations and races to show that one race might be more susceptible to the mutation of ACTN3 therefore making them inherently better at long distance running.

This article is very interesting to me because the more we study genes and the proteins they code for the better prepared the scientific community can be for gene therapy which is a rapidly evolving field. Maybe even one day it could be possible to introduce this mutant gene into an individual in order to train him as a future soldier with better stamina.

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/910/3