"We will now have the ability to make more muscle when we want it and where we need it," said Dr. Judy Anderson, a muscle cell biologist at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.

When something goes wrong in a muscle cell, it sends nitric oxide to so-called satellite cells just above the muscle fibre, which sparks a muscle-growth process.

Nitric oxide can be released in many ways, such as stretching muscles or through muscle and nerve damage. In some diseases, such as muscular dystrophy, this nitric oxide signal is disrupted, so muscle tissue wastes away over time.