Originally Posted by BALCO Laboratories, Inc.
October 1, 1998
Re: Flex Wheeler
To whom it may concern:
I am writing this letter per the request of Flex Wheeler.
I would first like to briefly provide you with some background information regarding BALCO Laboratories. BALCO has been working with elite Olympic and professional athletes for over fifteen years. BALCO has provided testing and consultation for over 250 NFL players including the entire 1998 Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos team and the entire Miami Dolphins team. BALCO works with professional athletes in many sports including teenis (Michael Chang, Jim Courier, etc.), hockey, bodybuilding (10 of the 16 1998 Mr. Olympia contestants), track and field, soccer and basketball (Seattle SuperSonics).
BALCO Laboratories has been testing and monitoring Flex on a routine basis during the last year. We have performed tests including blood chemistry (SMAC), complete blood count (CBC), PSA, anabolic hormone levels, genotyping as well as comprehensive testing for nutritional elements. Flex's test results have been compared to twenty-four other professional bodybuilders and overall he has one of the healthiest profiles. Basically, Flex is in excellent health and has demonstrated the discipline necessary to maintain a peak level of conditioning.
Flex was a participant in a study we recently conducted in collaboration with the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh involving 62 men who made unusually large gains in muscle mass in response to strength training (extreme responders). Flex was one of only nine extreme responders that had the very rare "myostatin mutation." Myostatin is the gene that "limits muscle growth." Specifically, Flex had the rarest form of myostatin mutation at the "exon 2" position on the gene. This simply means Flex has a much larger number of muscle fibers compared to the other subjects or the normal population. We believe that these are the very first myostatin mutation findings in humans and the results of this landmark study have already been submitted for publication. Flex was also found to have a very unusual type of the IGF-1 gene. In fact, Flex was the only participant in the study that did not have a "match." All of the other extreme responders had at least three other subjects with a matching IGF-1 gene. Based upon Flex's very unique genetic profile, we plan to expeditiously publish a scientific paper that reveals his complete genotype in specific detail. The publication of his remarkable genetic data should generate an enormous amount of media exposure.
Hope this information will be helpful and please call if I can be of assistance.
Sincerely,
/s/ Victor Conte
Victor Conte
President
BALCO Laboratories, Inc.
