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What is gene doping and what does it mean for competitive running?

The prospect of athletes engaging in gene doping, which derived from gene therapy, brings with it a host of concerns for competitive sport

A new method of mass spectrometry could detect some drugs previously undetectable.

The field of gene doping holds a potential minefield for anti-doping efforts in competitive sport. It has been on WADA’s list of prohibited methods since 2003 (WADA covers the Olympics and Paralympics), and it refers to the once-futuristic, but now considered inevitable, practice of tinkering with one’s genetic material and then transferring it back into oneself for the purpose of illegally enhancing athletic performance.

RELATED: Athletics has the most doping violations according to WADA

There are various types of gene doping, methods of doing it, and effects, and since there are almost 200 genes associated with athletic performance, the implications for doping control are daunting. Some forms of gene doping may be detectable via blood test, but some may not, for example if the genetic material is added directly to muscle tissue. The athletic world faces a major challenge to devise means of accurately and reliably detecting gene doping. Considering some estimates are that only two per cent of conventional doping violations are successfully detected and exposed, many assume this will be impossible.

Some types of gene doping may prevent muscles from breaking down, or may boost the body’s ability to rebuild muscle tissue. Scientist expect athletes will experiment with tweaking their own body’s EPO (erythropoietin, the hormone manufactured in the kidneys, a synthetic version of which some cyclists have been doping with for years) to boost red blood cell production.

RELATED: Kiprop denies doping accusation

Both conventional doping and gene doping are also inherently risky for athletes’ health, and some have argued that since conventional doping control is relatively ineffective and catching gene dopers will likely prove even less effective, that it should therefore be legalized, so it can be done under medical supervision. (A 2016 article in New Scientist offers various arguments to support this position.)

But even highly ethical and controlled experiments in gene therapy, from which the concept of gene doping is derived, have occasionally had unintentionally disastrous results, making patients sicker than they were previously. This is because the treatments are still experimental and long-term studies do not exist. Furthermore, the results may be permanent. And even in the unlikely event that gene doping were made legal in sport, it would be unethical for doctors to purposely inject genetic material into healthy people, especially when the long-term effects are unknown.

Moreover, as some experts have observed, if the practice were to be legalized, it would force all athletes to adopt it if they want to win, which would be a disaster both from a public health perspective but also from the perspective of public interest in competitive athletics, which would likely plummet. 

Experts at Scotland’s Stirling University are planning a symposium on the subject of policing gene doping on August 30.

 

 

 

 

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