I so knew it - have Phelps sequenced!!

[Tuckervill]

I idly thought Marfan's a couple of times when I saw Phelps, too. interesting.

Karen

[Eden]

Seems very unlikely that he's got Marfan's. There are of course exceptions, but other problems that go with the disease generally do not go hand in hand with being a great athlete. Often those that are athletes and are undiagnosed suffer sudden death from a ruptured aorta! Anyway, beyond the long arms and large hands he doesn't seem to have most of the signs.

Certainly unless you could pull out all of the undesirable traits, I doubt you wouldn't want to actually genetically engineer anyone to have Marfan's ..... people with it are prone to retinal detachment, spinal problems, lung dysfunction, aortic dissection...

[bmccasland]

Whatever happened to good genetic luck? Boy meets girl, falls in love, makes baby. Mama gives birth to a nice healthy baby boy... I think some folks just win the random genetic lottery.

I always wonder about those folks that sneak under the radar, who never showed the inclination to swim or ride bikes - there may be talented potential athletes out there that never knew it.

OTOH, there was a terrific article in my local paper today about a young man and his boxing coach. I'll be the first to admit, I don't get the "sport" of fighting, but I do grasp the concept of an older man being a good guiding influence to a young man in headed for a path of trouble.
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2..._a_fighti.html

[Zen]

OTOH, there was a terrific article in my local paper today about a young man and his boxing coach. I'll be the first to admit, I don't get the "sport" of fighting, but I do grasp the concept of an older man being a good guiding influence to a young man in headed for a path of trouble.
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2..._a_fighti.html

I hope that works out for him. Wouldn't it be great to see him on Hell's Kitchen?

[bmccasland]

Part two of the article was posted in today's paper - #1 ended with Hurricane Gustav about to hit (September). The young man is back in training, but lost his first official fight. However, it ends with hope. He's still under the coach's watchful eye, and has a supportive family.

[alpinerabbit]

Seems very unlikely that he's got Marfan's. There are of course exceptions, but other problems that go with the disease generally do not go hand in hand with being a great athlete. Often those that are athletes and are undiagnosed suffer sudden death from a ruptured aorta! Anyway, beyond the long arms and large hands he doesn't seem to have most of the signs.

Certainly unless you could pull out all of the undesirable traits, I doubt you wouldn't want to actually genetically engineer anyone to have Marfan's ..... people with it are prone to retinal detachment, spinal problems, lung dysfunction, aortic dissection...

maybe a similar mutation. I'm not saying the real thing.