There are many proteins coded for by different genes which contribute to athleticism. For example, IGF-1, EPO, myostatin, etc. The idea behind blood doping is to introduce sports performance enhancing compounds in high amounts into the athlete during training or the event. Gene doping is different in that the idea is to genetically modify a human to alter their ability to "naturally" produce or not produce these compounds on their own (Gronde, et. al. 2013).
In the summer Olympics of 2000, rumors started to spread that athletes had been genetically modified to enhance their performance (Greenemeier, 2012). Although this rumor was not proven to be true, it is a legitimate threat that the sports industry faces. Currently, world anti-doping agency (WADA) is working to prohibit doping in athletes and is facing challenges on how to screen and determine the use of gene doping. This is a struggle because all athletes (and people) have different genetic compositions. Sometimes these natural alterations (not self/lab induced) in genetic composition are even beneficial to the athlete. For example, a case report showed a boy with a myostatin dysfunction had higher average weight listing capacity (Schuelke, et. al. 2004).
H. L. Sweeney at Univeristy of Pennsylvania was one of the first to explore the idea of gene doping. This study created "Schwarzenegger Mice" which had an extra copy of the IGF-1 gene . As a result these mice became 30% stronger than control mice (Filipp, 2007). Can we alter our children's genes to make them better performers in the long run? Yes, probably. Can these genetic modifications be induced in a way that will go undetected? Yes, its likely.
So the question is... can we trust humans to research/explore genetic modifications, which may provide benefit to different disease states, and not use this knowledge to create a "super race" of human? Who know, but there are plenty of ethical issues that coincide with this issue. For one, the ability to create genetically modified children will only be available to those who can afford it, potentially creating even larger disparities in wage and overall opportunity. Another (likely less serious) implication... would gene doping disrupt the integrity of elite sports performance? Of course, and to me, it is a lot more interesting to watch athletes that are gifted due to work ethic, and natural born talent.
So the question is... can we trust humans to research/explore genetic modifications, which may provide benefit to different disease states, and not use this knowledge to create a "super race" of human? Who know, but there are plenty of ethical issues that coincide with this issue. For one, the ability to create genetically modified children will only be available to those who can afford it, potentially creating even larger disparities in wage and overall opportunity. Another (likely less serious) implication... would gene doping disrupt the integrity of elite sports performance? Of course, and to me, it is a lot more interesting to watch athletes that are gifted due to work ethic, and natural born talent.
Citations:
Filipp F. (2007). Is science killing sport? Gene therapy and its possible abuse in doping. EMBO reports, 8(5), 433–435. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400968
Greenemeier, L. (2012). Unnatural Selection: Muscles, Genes and Genetic Cheats. Retrieved October 13, 2019, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/muscles-genes-cheats-2012-olympics-london/.
Filipp F. (2007). Is science killing sport? Gene therapy and its possible abuse in doping. EMBO reports, 8(5), 433–435. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400968
Greenemeier, L. (2012). Unnatural Selection: Muscles, Genes and Genetic Cheats. Retrieved October 13, 2019, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/muscles-genes-cheats-2012-olympics-london/.
Schuelke M, Wagner KR, Stolz LE, Hubner C, Riebel T, Komen W, Braun T, Tobin JF, Lee SJ (2004) Myostatin mutation associated with gross muscle hypertrophy in a child. N Engl J Med 350: 2682–2688
Van der Gronde T, de Hon O, Haisma HJ, et alGene doping: an overview and current implications for athletesBritish Journal of Sports Medicine 2013;47:670-678.
Van der Gronde T, de Hon O, Haisma HJ, et alGene doping: an overview and current implications for athletesBritish Journal of Sports Medicine 2013;47:670-678.
I have never heard of gene doping! It makes me wonder how the rumors began in the summer Olympics in 2000 since technology in the genetics field wasn't as advance as it is now. Of course this raises some serious ethical issues, and I do believe that some professional athletes are resorting to this type of doping in order to remain in competition. Even an article dated back in 2010 stated that "'it [gene doping] can be done now [...] there are disreputable people in sport with access to technology and a lot of money" (Lovett, 2010). This just proves to show that if this comment about gene doping was made almost 10 years ago, that there has to be a percentage of athletes that are doing this now. The only tricky thing is how do we know who is doing it?
ReplyDeleteRight now there are strict laws on the genetics technology/research, but I believe that will change due to a change in culture. What is seen as wrong now may not be in the next 10, 20, or 30 years from now. It is scary to think that with such a great advancement in science and technology, there could also be a devastating outcome within human society.
Lovett, R.A. (2010, Feb 4). Vancouver Olympics Spur Gene Doping Warnings. National Geographic News. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com.
Wow, I had no idea that gene doping was the new sport performance ethical issue. Since rats showed increased performance with multiple gene copies I wonder if athletes are focusing their gene doping by those means. Do you think even if we found a way to stop the insertion of genes by athletes, athletes might still try and modify their expression through epigenetic means or through iRNAs? It seems to me that this ethical issue would be difficult to enforce despite the means are used to influence gene expression.
ReplyDeleteWhile gene doping is far from being perfected for humans, and will not be a realistic practice for many more years. The implications of creating a more favorable athletic physique that are caused by genetic mutation can already be seen in other animals. The most famous example is of the myostatin Whippet. This rare-breed of the English Whippet carry two copies of a two-base-pair deletion in the third exon of the myostatin gene. This mutation causes the Whippet to become more muscular and significantly faster than normal Whippets. Therefore, your claim of "creating a super human race" is not far-fetched.
ReplyDeleteGene doping could be much more problematic than the unethical implications in athletics. It could begin in athletics and sports to outcompete, to be the best, and to attain "perfection," but when will it stop? Gene doping in sports could be the "gate-way" of introducing genetic modification and enhancement. Humans are constantly striving and looking for new ways to attain perfection, but what if it is "somewhat" attainable to create a "perfect" genome via specific modifications. Like you said, we could potentially create a super race, but at what cost? There is not enough knowledge or research about what will happen if we begin to create a utopian society filled with "perfect" genomes. We do not know what mutations could occur or the long-term side effects of gene doping.
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