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A pill to replace exercise? Couch potatoes everywhere, rejoice!

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According to Design Indaba, scientists are looking to create a drug that will have the same effect on the human body as exercise.


Joint research done by the University of Sydney and the University of Copenhagen have created a blueprint for future research. They have mapped 1000 molecular changes that skeletal muscles undergo during exercise. The idea is that a drug would then be developed to mimic the molecular changes of cells, thereby giving the recipient the same benefits they would get from exercise.

I’m not sure if this is awesome or insane, but it will only be available far in the future. And despite not wanting to sound unscientific, I do feel that exercise is a more holistic than a bunch of molecular cell changes.

For those who suffer from joint disorders, who are frail and sick, the elderly – all who cannot exercise without causing themselves serious injury- this pill could be revolutionary and change their way of life. But, there are no drugs (yet) that can safely deliver 1000 effects, so this dream is really still in its infancy. According to Quartz, it would be many years before something like this could reasonably appear on the market.

So in the meantime, if you want the health benefits of exercise, you’re going to have to get off the couch.


Would you take this pill if it were available now?

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