Gene Doping at Torino?

February 9, 2006

Surprising, but not shocking news from The Scientist:

With the Torino Winter Olympics due to kick off on Friday (February 10), anti-doping authorities are still hoping that the spectre of gene doping — the misuse of gene therapy to boost athletic performance — will not cast its shadow over the competition. However, a recent court case in Germany appears to suggest otherwise.

It seems that a running coach in Germany tried to obtain a drug called Repoxygen, which delivers a specific gene to muscle cells in order to alter the cells oxygen use. The drug is, according to the manufacturer, “in preclinical development” (i.e., untested in humans). It isn’t clear that any gene doping actually occurred, and this doesn’t relate directly to the Olympics. The main point is that this kind of thing is on the horizon, and may in fact be closer than we think.

Some of the best work on the topic of biotech athletic performance enhancement comes from the President’s Council on Bioethics. Of particular interest is Chapter 3, “Superior Performance” from the report Beyond Therapy.