Rare condition gives toddler super strength

Rare condition gives toddler super strength

www.ctv.ca

ROOSEVELT PARK, Mich. -- Liam Hoekstra was hanging upside down by his feet when he performed an inverted sit-up, his shirt falling away to expose rippled abdominal muscles. It was a display of raw power one might expect to see from an Olympic gymnast.

Liam is 19 months old.

But this precocious, 22-pound boy with coffee-colored skin, curly hair and washboard abs is far from a typical toddler. "He could do the iron cross when he was 5 months old," said his adoptive mother, Dana Hoekstra of Roosevelt Park. She was referring to a difficult gymnastics move in which a male athlete suspends himself by his arms between two hanging rings, forming the shape of a cross.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 31-3-2009 by DimensionalDetective]

WHOA...This is a trip.

This little boy has freak strength and muscle developement due to a genetic condition.

Now just imagine if scientists could figure out a way to harness this gene mutation for those afflicted with muscular disabilities---I'm betting that may happen in the future.

Wild story.

Liam has a rare genetic condition called myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy, or muscle enlargement.

www.ctv.ca
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


Would you let your kid be touched and poked by doctor's to further science?


i bet 9 in 10 would not allow them to do extensive reasearch .

unless it was life threatening.

[edit on 31-3-2009 by TheAmused]

reply to post by TheAmused


I certainly would. As long as they're not dissecting him, it's for the betterment of mankind to extract some blood and tissue samples.

Did you miss that the kid is adopted?

Perhaps the kid IS the experiment, and they've put the results out to the public to raise up nice and normal.

haha, where did the parents hide the rocket in which they found him ?
Bet he will be a gold medallist at age 12. Good for him

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


DimensionalDetective you have found one of the greatest articles I have seen here on ATS for a long time. Most articles are on the negative side, but this one is on the positive side, or at least it was until I looked in the mirror at my abs.

I have the dunlap disease, my belly has done lapped over my belt buckle.

It's great to see kids like this, it makes one believe that some day there may be super heros out there, just like in the comic books and in the movies.

[edit on 31-3-2009 by RussianScientists]

Now just imagine if scientists could figure out a way to harness this gene mutation for those afflicted with muscular disabilities---I'm betting that may happen in the future.

Now just imagine the military applications this technology. Need I say more?

I might just have to kids nap this kid for my own research...

I mean, how interrrresssstingggg....

In during GM Children?

Do these parents get a paycheck from Monsanto, I wonder?

The article is 2 years old.

More resent article.

He is going to be a sports star.

For some reason this story makes me think of Bean from the Ender's Game series given how quickly he developed. I do wonder about the long term effects of having such a drastic increase in muscle mass, given how some professional body builders must do nothing but eat and exercise in their spare time between contests otherwise their body starts consuming the muscle immediately.

A real modern day hercules?

Makes you think what stories were "really" myths, and how many are based on real history.

[edit on 31-3-2009 by _Phoenix_]

i did some digging around and found this interesting article. have a read and check out the dog with the same condition !!!!


actionnooz.com...

Originally posted by Helig
For some reason this story makes me think of Bean from the Ender's Game series given how quickly he developed. I do wonder about the long term effects of having such a drastic increase in muscle mass, given how some professional body builders must do nothing but eat and exercise in their spare time between contests otherwise their body starts consuming the muscle immediately.

That book was amazing!

Try reading the rest of the series. It really makes you think.

This makes me think of one thing: TV series HEROES.....

Originally posted by MattMulder

haha, where did the parents hide the rocket in which they found him ?
Bet he will be a gold medallist at age 12. Good for him

Hahaha. No doubt.

Nice link, turbokid. That dog is buff, and so is the cow.

I never heard of this before. Maybe the incidence of this mutation in ancient times has given us the stories of Samson, Hercules, etc. Certainly, if anyone was born with this condition in Ancient Greece, they would be considered part god.

[edit on 31-3-2009 by TheComte]

[edit on 31-3-2009 by TheComte]

That is really something! At 11 months he is already doing things most never can do through out the life.

The think that throws me off, the mother said there are roughtly 100 other people that have that condition, sooo where are they?

I never have seen anything about this yet.
Just saying, the kid will most likely be some sort retarded, no fat no brain growth. So he wil most likely join the military

this stuff is so interesting to me. they have been playing with these running dogs with this mutation.
they have a normal dog on the left, one with half the gene mutation in the middle and the full mutation on the right. check these guys out!!!!

www.plosgenetics.org...

Originally posted by TheAmused

Would you let your kid be touched and poked by doctor's to further science?


i bet 9 in 10 would not allow them to do extensive reasearch .

unless it was life threatening.

I absolutely would. Even a muscle biopsy, which they say is painful. Why? Because a kid will recover from it. It wont be the first pain or the last pain he/she would have. Many males have part of their penis cut off as a regular occurrence, so what they heck is the difference except for the fact that the study might help others?

Its not like they are pithing the kid or saturating him with experimental drugs, I wouldnt allow that, but to just sample and test him? Why not? I would do it voluntarily. I give blood regularly. What the heck is the difference? Its an honor to be able to help save lives.