Exercise in a Pill? (broadcast Friday, August 1st, 2008)

Mouse on a treadmill. image courtesy of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Could popping a pill turn you into a long-distance runner? Writing this week in the journal Cell, researchers report that they have identified two separate biochemical signaling pathways that are turned on in response to exercise -- and that artificially turning those pathways on in mice produced rodents with much greater endurance that were also able to use energy more efficiently. While it remains to be seen if similar results would be seen in humans, the researchers are already developing a test to try to screen athletes to detect use of their pathway-activating medications. We'll talk with one of the researchers about the work and what it means for the study of exercise and metabolism. Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection.

Guests

Ronald Evans
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Professor and March of Dimes Chair, Molecular and Developmental Biology
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
La Jolla, California