Study Finds Exercise Could Be Customized Based On Genes

By Austin Westfall
Published: Saturday, March 24, 2018 - 10:05am
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A new study conducted by Arizona State University and the Translational Genomics Research Institute, or TGen, says exercise in the future could be customized for individuals based on their genes.

TGen said the goal of the research is to make sure people are spending their time doing the type of exercise that benefits their body and their physiology the most.

The study found that two different types of exercise, aerobics and weight lifting, resulted in different molecular changes in the muscle tissue.

Dr. Matt Huentelman of TGen is one of the study’s authors. He said the molecular response of muscle plays a significant role in short-term and long-term changes in your body.

"Your muscles get stronger or your heart pumps blood better for example, those changes rely on molecular changes that exist for a long period of time, and so were trying to understand the beginnings of these molecular changes," he said.

Huentelman said this is only the first step in the research. The next steps will include understanding how the molecules change in other tissues in the body that are known to respond to exercise, including your bloodstream, lungs and brain.

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