Discovered in 1997, Myostatin is a protein found in mammals that controls skeletal muscle growth. Its function is to tell the body to stop producing muscle tissue presumably to conserve nutrients. With such obvious potential science began to explore the effects of removing myostatin from organisms and the results proved to be quite dramatic (Picture above (A) normal (B) no Myostatin - or click here). Such studies demonstrated that with myostatin removed - muscle growth can proceed unhindered. Of even more interest was that there are known humans that do not have myostatin (pictured in title above) and are known to be very muscular with minimal exercise, but more importantly, lead otherwise healthy lives. With this in mind and for the purpose of finding a potential cure for degenerative diseases, such as muscular dystrophy, the search for an inhibitor to Myostatin had begun.

With medical science held up in the process of clinical trials, the herbal supplement industry had the first chance to capitalize on a myostatin inhibitor. Based on research demonstrating a compound found in certain seaweeds can bind to myostatin, one of the first attempts at an inhibitor was developed, called Myoblast™. The belief is that this compound, extracted and concentrated from seaweed, will bind and stop myostatin from working - resulting in increased muscle mass, lower body fat and manageable weight. The purpose of this experiment is to explore these claims and to explore whether or not science has put mankind into a new era of super strength!

Based on the claims of the manufacturer and the lofty price tag of $50.00+ for a 1 month supply of Myoblast™ - it is the hypothesis of Scientific AmeriKen that a user of this compound will experience better results than non-users while exercising.

The experiment consisted of 4 participants. Pictured above, (A) (Scientific AmeriKen himself) representing the male negative control (Negative (m)) (B) (Scientific AmeriKen's Fiancé) representing the female negative control (Negative (f)), fellow lab mates (C) representing the placebo control (Placebo) and (D) representing the experimental variable (inhibitor). The placebo control participant had an overwhelmingly firm belief that ingesting 2 or more alcoholic beverages a night would enhance physical development and thus allowed him to serve as a control for positive mental effects. The experiment was carried out over the course of 28 days. Participants would perform weight lifting experiments Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and cardiovascular exercise on Tuesday, and Thursday. Measurements were taken every Monday, Wednesday and Friday that includes: weight, body fat percentage (by calipers and electronic scale), and body mass index (BMI). On Fridays measurements were taken for waist and biceps. At the completion of the experiment, each category was compared by percentage change over the course of the experiment. Myoblast™ was taken per manufacturer's directions.

The experiment proceeded for the 4 weeks as planned. It is noted that with 10 days left the placebo control refused to do any more exercise - a potential side effect of alcohol. Over the time period examined Myoblast™ coupled with exercise netted a total of about 2lbs lost or ~0.7%. Although, there is a loss it is comparably less than any of the other three participants indicating little or no effect from the inhibitor. With regard to the ability of Myoblast™ to enhance muscle mass, the Myoblast™ participant increased the bicep circumference a total of 1/2 inch or 3.3% - which places him in line with the other 3 participants again indicating little or no effect from Myoblast™.

The dismal results of Myoblast™ refute the hypothesis of this experiment, thus demonstrating that spending top dollar doesn't always get more. It should be stated that there is a possibility that the supplement takes longer than 1 month of use before effects are seen or the fact that only one participant used it may have led to the observed results. However, a little web research (which would have been nice before beginning the experiment) would have shown one large scale experiment demonstrating the failure of Myoblast™ (click here) and the Federal Trade Commission website showing other fraudulent activity by the maker of Myoblast™ - Cytodyne (Click Here). Additionally, given the chemical structure of the active ingredient of Myoblast™, that appears to be a complex carbohydrate, it is very unlikely that this compound would be digested or enter the bloodstream at all, which is a requirement to inhibit Myostatin - indeed Myoblast™ literally is a sugar pill. This information was sent in a letter to Cytodyne asking for a refund (click here) - to date there has been no response. In conclusion, it may appear as though we are close to being in the new era of superhuman abilities; However, it seems as though this makes one susceptible to fraudulent activity as far fetched ideas of the past begin to seem plausible. Now more than ever it is important to investigate before taking anything - or convince a lab mate to take it for you.

Scientific AmeriKen would also like to add that experiments involving alcohol should only be done by those of legal age. As judged from this experiment alcohol use leads to nearly unusable data and lack of follow through.

Below the graph indicates other attributes that were examined over the course of the experiment. The two left graphs compare body fat percentage taken through an electronic scale (top) and calipers (bottom) - although there was considerable loss

for all participants over the course of a month - the stark comparison between the two methods leads to a little suspicion of methodology - although the idea of bragging about losing 30% of one's body fat in one month is enticing. Although Myoblast™ failed in our test, medical science has not given up - there are a couple candidate drugs in clinical trials that might prove more effective (Click here for more information).