Size clearly does matter, at least when it comes to the length of a gene associated with your ability to be athletic. People with the longer version of this "sporty" gene respond better to training and have more efficient muscles as a result, according to new research from Britain.
The gene in question is known as ACE because of the substance it produces, angiotensin-converting enzyme.
It comes in two sizes and blessed are those athletes who inherit the longer version - 287 DNA base pairs longer - for they shall have muscles that contract better, a full 8.62 per cent better than lesser mortals.
Research groups from the Royal Defence Medical College in Hampshire and the British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Genetics at the Rayne Institute in London explain their work this morning in a letter to the science journal, Nature. They conducted a study involving 58 army recruits, 35 with the longer gene form and 23 with the shorter version, who underwent tests at the beginning and end of an 11-week physical training programme. They were required to pedal furiously on a cycling machine so that the efficiency of their muscular contractions could be calculated.
The pre-training test showed little or no difference between the two groups but the picture changed significantly for the tough guys with the long genes after 11 weeks of training. Their muscles worked 8.62 per cent better after the training, compared with their short-gened fellows.
The researchers readily admit that they have no idea how the longer gene version helps to "improve the mechanical efficiency of trained muscle". They see lots of potential for having such knowledge, however. It could help people to cope better when the body is put under particular demands, for example, in helping breast-feeding mothers to achieve "more external work for less energy utilisation" while lactating, the group reported.
Having this higher level of muscle efficiency would also be of benefit in patients susceptible to congestive heart failure or during a heart attack. In these circumstances, having "enhanced cardiac muscle metabolic efficiency would be an advantage", the researchers said.
Such benefits have already been seen in reduced tissue damage in heart patients who have received ACE inhibitors during treatment.
