Cattle farmers have known about double muscling for years because of its high frequency in two popular cattle breeds: the Belgian Blue and the Piedmontese. These cows have 20 percent more muscle on average, a higher meat-to-bone ratio, less fat, and a higher percentage of desirable cuts of meat, making them a beef producer’s dream. In 1997, three labs determined that a single gene was responsible for this exceptional form of muscle development. The gene, called myostatin, behaves like a natural brake on the body’s production of muscle tissue. The two breeds of cattle these labs were studying
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