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Genetics and exercise: an introduction
Published in Adam P. Sharples, James P. Morton, Henning Wackerhage, Molecular Exercise Physiology, 2022
Claude Bouchard, Henning Wackerhage
Gene replacement therapy is a highly regulated therapeutic field, and clinical trials based on the technology have been limited to diseases for which there is no known cure. However, gene therapy strategies may potentially be misused for gene doping. The World Anti-Doping Agency defines gene doping as the non-therapeutic use of genes or genetic elements with the intent of enhancing athletic performance. If the purpose of gene doping is to increase athletic performance, is this a realistic goal? How likely is it that some athletes engage in gene doping today?
Genetic Limitations to Athletic Performance
Published in Peter M. Tiidus, Rebecca E. K. MacPherson, Paul J. LeBlanc, Andrea R. Josse, The Routledge Handbook on Biochemistry of Exercise, 2020
So far, we have concentrated on how natural genetic variation contributes to sporting performance. However, the knowledge gained from studying the genetics of sporting performance could ultimately be used to enhance an individual's ability to perform. Whilst “gene doping” is not currently believed to be possible, in 2003 it was added to the World Antidoping Agency (WADA) prohibited list (80). Gene doping is defined as “the non-therapeutic use of genes, genetic elements and/or cells that have the capacity to enhance athletic performance.” More simply put, gene doping is gene therapy in people who have no medical need for it. Gene therapy is a medical technique that involves either transferring modified DNA into an individual or modifying the DNA of an individual to treat a medical condition. In its simplest form, this would be to provide a functional version of a missing or damaged protein.
Gene transfer, gene enhancement and gene doping: distinguishing science from science fiction
Published in Silvia Camporesi, Mike McNamee, Bioethics, Genetics and Sport, 2018
Silvia Camporesi, Mike McNamee
The very act of labelling this type of genetic modification as ‘doping’ is a significant decision, clearly connoting an official negative attitude towards the practice. But ought gene transfer techniques be classified as doping? The play Deny Deny by Jonathan Maitland, shown at London’s Park Theatre in 2016, depicts the story of a young athlete who, encouraged by her coach (interestingly, also a sports physician), decides to embark on a new experimental procedure in which cells of her body are collected, genetically engineered and administered back, with the explicit purpose of allowing her a faster recovery. The athlete asks: ‘Is it legal?’ The coach responds: ‘Look into the Code and tell me if it is not.’ The play does an excellent job at illustrating how the issue of gene doping is much more nuanced than how WADA paints it. Yet national and international policy frameworks are rarely inclined towards acknowledging complexity. Their first task is to deter what they determine deviant behaviour; their second is to educate; and their third will be to sanction non-compliant athletes (and now it seems, possibly states too).
Genetically Enhanced Minors: Whose Responsibility?
Published in The American Journal of Bioethics, 2018
Erika Kleiderman, Audrey Boily, Bartha Maria Knoppers
Gene doping (e.g., use of genetically modified cells) was banned by WADA in 2003. Emerging gene editing technologies have also recently been added to this ban (WADA 2018). On its face, this prohibition would include not only genetic enhancement, but therapeutic uses (i.e., for medical indications) as well. Is this fair? Or would we need to foresee a therapeutic use exemption from WADA in the case where an elite athlete, with a rare disease, for example, was treated with gene therapy as a child? International consensus exists regarding the vulnerable status of children (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989), yet the World Anti-Doping Code (2015) does not distinguish between adults and minors (i.e., under 18 years) as concerns their obligations and responsibilities (e.g., article 21.1). It overburdens minors with responsibility, while remaining silent as to the role of parents within the context of antidoping. We suggest that there is a need to revisit the issue of the rights and protections of minors under the current antidoping framework.
Attitude and practice of substance misuse and dietary supplements to improve performance in sport
Published in Journal of Substance Use, 2019
Doping in sport is a multifaceted issue and in our time including gene therapy (Gaffney & Parisotto, 2007). The discovery of the complete human genome, may be used for the design of a new therapeutics use, based on the DNA sequence information. This scientific knowledge led a new doping: gene doping (Doessing & Kjaer, 2005; Mazzeo & Volpe, 2016; Mottram & Chester, 2018).