Ever wonder why one person has boundless energy and another has no get up and go? Researchers at McMaster University have found a possible answer, after isolating a key gene they believe is linked to exercise, reports CBC News. The McMaster team was working with mice, some of which had two genes removed. The genes control the AMP-activated protein kinase (or AMPK), an enzyme that is released during exercise. While mice like to run, the mice without the genes were not as active as mice with the genes, and could only run short distances compared to the miles covered by the rodents who possessed the AMPK gene. The McMaster research is available in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and though study results involving mice are not always applicable to people, the research suggests a direct correlation between AMPK and exercise.
