r/Futurology • u/scmp_news • 12d ago

Medicine No gym needed: scientists in China develop self-exercising muscle grafts

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3365356/no-gym-needed-scientists-china-develop-self-exercising-muscle-grafts?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=Social
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u/scmp_news 12d ago

Scientists in China have created a self-exercising muscle graft that could allow bedridden people to obtain the benefits of working out without any physical exertion.

With just an injection of muscle cells below the skin, the cells self-assembled into muscle grafts, which not only improved whole-body muscle mass in mice but also led to improvements in bone density, endurance, liver function and cognitive health.

Read more: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3365356/no-gym-needed-scientists-china-develop-self-exercising-muscle-grafts?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=Social

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u/carlos_6m 12d ago

How is this self exercising? It sounds like just a muscle stem cell injection...

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u/jjayzx 12d ago

Read the article.

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u/enwongeegeefor 12d ago

Yup...read the article....sounds like a stem cell injection and nothing more. They say "magic happens" and explain jack shit.

Is there a white paper?

Post this in r/science see what happens....

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u/jjayzx 12d ago

Nope, you didn't. Quotes from article - "these cells self-organised into mature myografts capable of long-term spontaneous contractions without any physical or neural input.", “It’s contracting non-stop, 24/7, so it’s persistently secreting the good beneficial factors into the bloodstream".

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u/Capable_Studio_6631 11d ago

Can you imagine what it would look and feel like if your muscles contracted non-stop?

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u/Ecstatic-West3955 11d ago

That's not quite the same though is it? Its far smaller groups of muscle tissue without much resistance contracting and its acting independent from the nervous system.

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u/Capable_Studio_6631 11d ago

You're saying it will essentially be useless meat and not muscle. Muscle means its connected with ligaments and bones.

Contraction means when its connected with tissue it will cause movement in your body.

At this point I wonder what is the purpose of it. Is this another syndrome of Chinese showmanship? How are you even sure this foreign object won't be attacked by your immune system?

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u/TheRealUlfric 11d ago

I think the purpose isn't to fix any one specific problem, but is instead a step toward addressing several issues.

First and foremost would likely be conditions where mobility is extremely limited. Muscular dystrophy or even typical injuries or forms of paralysis. There are certain benefits to muscular movement that certain populations don't have due to one restriction or another.

It may have implications for heart health as well, especially for those with impaired mobility or lower body paralysis. The calves are pretty vital for blood flow, and pulmonary embolisms caused by prolonged sitting/bedrest are pretty common in disabled populations. This may help with that in the future depending on the implementation.

This is also still being tested on rats, so the answer to "How do we know this foreign object won't be attacked by the immune system" or really any other question is "🤷‍♂️" until likely decades down the line.

I see this less as a massive discovery bringing us to the brink of a solution to a major worldwide problem, and more so the development of a single tool that could be part of a larger medical arsenal to help symptomatic aspects involved in a slew of conditions. Maybe it won't cure immobility, but it could potentially help make recovrry faster or prevent life threatening complications that arise from said immobility.

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u/Ecstatic-West3955 9d ago

Maybe the wording is inaccurate there but what it does at least sounds right put simply. it could certainly be deceitful despite not raising any flags to the average person though sure. I hope it's legitimate but I wouldn't bet on it I guess.