The mutant gene prevents the expression of a myosin variant, known as MYH16, in the jaw muscles used in biting and chewing.
The fibers can be duplicated in the laboratory out of their chemical constituents, actin and myosin.
Currently, researchers are using the technology to measure the mechanical force exerted by a single molecule of myosin, one of the muscle proteins responsible for motion.
Biceps Bulge, Calves Curve, 50-Year-Old Assumptions Muscled Aside The basics of how a muscle generates power remain the same: Filaments of myosin tugging on filaments of actin shorten, or contract, the muscle - but the power doesn't just come from what's happening straight up and down the length of the muscle, as has been assumed for 50 years.
July 9, 2013 - Newswise