WTF? Really....who does this to their kid?

[johnny--2k]

Crazy, and cool, but still....really?

http://www.break.com/index/strongest-kid-youve-ever-seen.html?mrr=we

[TheRX7Project]

Wow. I'm reasonably sure he's stronger than I am. Time to quit life.

[pOrk]

Insane. That kid will never be taller then 5'

[1320PNY]

The "Van Damme" project. This is the next martial art movie star with a drug habbit.

[Exitspeed]

Damn dude is strong as shit. Too bad he's gonna be messed up the rest of his life.

[Prince Valiant]

that kid is almost certainly myostatin deficient. Myostatin is responsible for limiting muscle growth...without it, there muscles grow to huge proportions. Otherwise, that kid wouldn't be that defined at such an early age...and that's the key, is the definition.

A whippet with and without the trait to show how dramatic it can be:

http://www.who-sucks.com/wp-content/uploads/icons//2007/07/wendy3.jpg

To get it, you need to have both parents carry the trait. At our school we have a family who posses the trait (Dad exhibits dominant trait characteristics, mom recessive), which means the chance is 50% their kid will exhibit as a dominant trait like dad, and 50% they carry it recessive like mom. Recessive carriers tend to be superior athletes vs. dominant, due to improved strength w/o excessive mass. In this family's case, there are 4 kids, w/ 2 exhibiting the dominant trait, 2 as a recessive trait...all are terrific athletes.

The kids with the dominant traits though are otherwordly muscular...even though they never really lifted weights.

There is little/no downside...some say you're more likely to suffer diabetes from this, however, I don't see too much to support this. No increased risk of other disease is noted either. I haven't seen studies to suggest these kids don't grow normally...in this family's case, Dad, and all kids are average height for their sex.

Here's a pic comparing dogs totally w/o the trait, recessive carrier, and dominant carrier:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Myostatin_mutant_variants_in_Whippet_MyostatinMuta ntVariationsWhippet.jpg/800px-Myostatin_mutant_variants_in_Whippet_MyostatinMuta ntVariationsWhippet.jpg

You'll see nutrition stores hawk "myostatin inhibitors"; they try to sell the principle...of course, they're total junk.

[Exitspeed]

^
Wow is that interesting. I never knew that existed. I'm sure there's some labs somewhere trying to figure out how you can order your next kid that way.