The "monstrous product" of human transformation

If you want to choose the animal world in the bodybuilding champion, cattle in the "Schwarzenegger" Belgian blue cattle will be a popular candidate. Look at the name, it is known that this kind of cattle is native to Belgium, the Belgian blue cattle and ordinary cattle are not the same, their muscular, male cattle can grow to 1.2 tons of weight; and female cattle weigh 0.7 tons.

In addition to their large size, the most conspicuous thing about Belgian blue cattle is their well-developed, toned muscles. Their muscles can be extreme growth, in the waist, hips, shoulders, and back are covered with thick muscles.

Moreover, Belgian blue cattle have 30% less fat than ordinary beef cattle and up to 70% muscle ratio; plus the muscle fiber is relatively thin, so their meat is tender and loved by people all over the world.

At the same time, Belgian blue cattle also have the characteristics of early maturity, and growth cycle than other beef cattle, the fastest growth rate can grow 3 pounds of meat a day! And consume less feed. Countries with developed animal husbandry, such as New Zealand, the United States, Canada, and more than 20 countries have breeding and distribution.

The emergence of Belgian blue cattle from a chance crossbreeding

Before the 19th century, there was no Belgian blue cattle breed in the world. In 19th century Belgium, to promote the development of animal husbandry in their own country, respectively from the United Kingdom introduced the Shorthorn cattle, from France introduced the Charolais cattle.

The Shorthorn is a crossbreed and is a famous breed of cattle for meat or dairy meat, while the Charolais is a large, more common breed of beef cattle. At that time, Belgian farmers, mainly to examine the growth of these two kinds, to select a more suitable breed for their country, and then vigorously breed.

But the process of mixed captivity, Shorthorn and Charolais cattle in a foreign country rubbed "love sparks", the two breeds of cattle after crossbreeding, giving birth to muscular cattle, that is, the ancestors of the Belgian blue cattle.

The original Belgian blue cattle, although more muscular than other beef cattle, but not as exaggerated as today. It was human intervention and modification later in life that turned them into the grotesque appearance they have today.

The mystery of the muscularity of the Belgian blue cattle

When the Belgian blue cattle first appeared, humans have not mastered the mystery of genetics; until the late 20th century, scientific and technological progress led to the development of biological engineering, allowing scientists to uncover the mystery of the body of the blue cattle.

The animal's muscle does not grow infinitely, because the greater the proportion of muscle, the faster the metabolic rate, which will be a burden on the cardiovascular system; so, the animal through the secretion of a protein called "muscle growth inhibitor" to control muscle growth so that it is maintained at a suitable ratio, not to infinite growth.

However, the Belgian blue cattle, which are crossed between Shorthorn and Charolais cattle, cannot secrete muscle growth inhibitors properly. Therefore, the Belgian blue cattle can quickly grow muscle, and become full of muscle "Jain Me cattle".

Subsequently, scientists used DNA sequencing technology, from the Belgian blue cattle to find the inhibition of "muscle growth inhibitory hormone" secretion of gene fragments, and then began to do experiments.

For example, the University of Rhode Island Professor Terry Bradley, the gene fragment transplanted to the rainbow trout. After 10 years of hard work, a fish with muscles and six-pack abs appeared ......

The "monstrous product" of human modification

Scientists have worked hard to unravel the mystery of the Belgian blue cow's long muscles, but this is not a concern for Belgian farmers, who only know that this muscular cow can bring them more money.

In the 19th century, humans had mastered the mysteries of genetics and knew that it was possible to make an animal breed genetically pure through human intervention.

To produce more muscular Belgian blue cattle, farmers began to find ways to improve the quality of their beef; they used the simplest of traditional methods - inbreeding.

The Belgian Blue cows were mated with each other over and over again to select the more muscular "premium purebred blue cows". After a long process of mating, breeding, and culling, in 1950 Belgian farmers finally produced the breed they wanted. What we see today, is so muscular as to be grotesque and even cumbersome.

For the same cost (or even less), the Belgian Blue cattle could produce 20% more beef. The Belgian farmers were happy, but the life of the transformed Blue cattle was full of tragedy.

Human greed has serious consequences for blue cattle

Due to the lack of a "muscle growth inhibitor", the Belgian blue cattle have more developed muscles from the embryonic period. The oversize cubs are a challenge to breeding offspring.

Typically, Belgian blue cattle cubs can reach an average weight of 44 kg when they are first born! In contrast to the large size of the cubs, the cow's birth canal becomes very small due to the compression of the overdeveloped muscles in her hips. One large and one small, resulting in a 95% probability of a difficult birth for Belgian blue cows

Cesarean section has become the only option for Belgian blue cattle to breed their offspring, so the cesarean section of Belgian blue cattle has become a technique that many farmers must learn. There are even several academic papers that have been devoted to this surgery.

However birth is only the beginning of the ordeal of the Belgian Blue cattle, as the breed is crossed by artificial means, Belgian Blue cattle calves are born with many congenital genetic diseases, such as heart disease, and bone, and joint diseases.

At the same time, because the muscle growth of the cubs in the womb steals most of the nutrients, many blue bull cubs are born with softened bones and are unable to stand properly.

Bulls that do not suffer from childbirth are not immune to the damage caused by human modification. Because of the unlimited muscle growth, most of the nutrients for Belgian blue cattle are focused on muscle growth

This leads to a malnourished and underdeveloped reproductive system in bulls. For example, the testicles are too small, sperm quality is insufficient, etc.; this brings difficulties to the breeding of Belgian blue cattle. The quality of the bull's sperm, in turn, can lead to defective development of the young.

Humans cannot survive without meat and milk, so it is difficult to evaluate the right and wrong aspects alone. I just hope that in the future, human beings can satisfy their own needs while taking into account the balance of all things natural.