Should Gene Doping Be Banned?

Even though there is a greater focus on gene doping to improve athletic performance, genetic research has already changed the nature of sport. DNA and protein profiling can be used to identify specific gene variants to predict and select athletes for certain sports.  Currently, there are at least 50 alleles that are shared among the majority of athletes but uncommon in the general population. Knowing these variants can help us understand what makes a runner a distance runner or sprinter.

In class, we learned that gene mutations could sometimes help a new species evolve and become dominant. The same idea applies here. There are some people who have mutations that turn them into natural athletes. Finnish Nordic skier and 1964 Olympic gold medalist Eero Mäntyranta, for example, had unusually high amounts of red blood cells. Males born with a myostatin dysfunction have abnormally better weight-lifting capacities when compared to their peers. The question arises that if gene doping is banned in sports, should the individuals who naturally have genetic mutations also be banned?

If gene therapy becomes safe enough to be used not only as a medical treatment but also for athletic enhancement purposes, it will raise the question of whether gene doping should remain banned. There is already a grey zone of performance enhancements that are legally used in sports because they are accepted as standard medical treatments. Professional golfers, for example, have subjected themselves to laser eye surgery to enhance their vision.

I brought up two interesting questions in this blog. What do you think?

Source: EMBO Reports