She ain't your typical bovine. Belgian Blues, like the ones pictured here, have a (naturally occuring) faulty copy of the gene that regulates muscle development causing their muscles to grow faster and much larger than normal cattle. They are now purposely being bred by farmers as meat cattle. Holy double cheeseburger!
That gene is the MSTN gene and the protein is myostatin!! You've hit on one of my favorite proteins!! Just because I'm sure you'd be intrigued, you should also check out leptin (my other favorite regulator protein), or rather, the effect that shutting off the gene that makes leptin, has on an animal. If you want to see pictures, you can googleimage "leptin knockout mice." Neats!
ReplyDeleteAhhh...it's so nice to have friends in Med school..:)I'm gonna check out leptins now!
ReplyDeleteI would definitely vote for this cow as the next governor of California.
ReplyDeleteHe certainly appears to have the balls to tackle the job! (Ha haha ha ha...I am so hilarious! Get it? Balls?)
ReplyDelete