Jessica Cardin, M.S.Skeletal muscle has a high degree of plasticity that allows the tissue to respond to environmental cues (exercise, disuse, starvation, etc.). The majority of research has focused on the building of muscle. However, atrophy has vast implications across many disease states (cancer cachexia, renal failure, COPD, and Type II Diabetes). The understanding of how atrophy occurs as an "unpacking" process of the muscle fiber is limited. Pioneering research is important as it...