Dream Genes

Theodore Friedmann, who directs the gene therapy program at the University of California at San Diego and heads wada’s panel of genetics experts, believes it won’t be long before clandestine gene doping occurs — if it hasn’t already. Athletes will be attracted not only by the fact that it is hard to detect but also because it is far more effective and less dangerous than steroids. While steriods tend to bulk up the whole body, gene doping will allow athletes to target specific muscle groups — stronger shoulders for the shot put, more powerful back muscles for rowing, or bigger calves for the starting block. A team of South Korean and American researchers has developed a “marathon mouse” that can run twice as far as a normal mouse after being injected with a gene that boosts production of slow-twitch muscles. Athletes are taking notice.

And what of Mäntyranta’s natural genetic advantage? Genes are responSporting sible for producing oxygen-carrying red blood cells, via the protein hormone erythropoietin, or epo. Some athletes have already been caught taking a synthetic version of erythropoietin, which causes the body to produce more red blood cells. (It is the drug Lance Armstrong was accused of taking.) Gene doping could provide a permanent boost in oxygen levels and would be virtually undetectable. “You can inject an epo vector [gene] into the skin and turn it on or off at will with a small molecule,” explains Friedmann. “The result of that is increased red blood cell production, which is stable over a very long period of time. You can see that would be an attractive genetic approach to athletic doping.”

Will gene doping ultimately be impossible to detect, as Sweeney suggests? Unlike virtually every other drug on wada’s list, gene doping doesn’t produce synthetic copies of hormones, which leave telltale markers. The only evidence of doping lies hidden in muscle cells themselves, where the virus that was used to carry the gene into the body would linger. But these messengers would be difficult to trace without a biopsy, something athletes are unlikely to submit to. “You would have to know where the virus was put,” says Friedmann, “and you’d have to look in that muscle itself.”

Surprisingly, unlike the universally condemned use of steroids, ethicists are divided over whether gene doping should be outlawed. Thomas Murray, chair of wada’s ethics panel, believes that like steroids and other performanceenhancing drugs, gene doping gives an athlete an unfair advantage. “What’s chilling about the prospect of gene doping is that it arguably changes a person’s natural abilities,” says Murray. “It violates our understanding of what should make for success in sports.”

Many in the sports world consider Murray’s perspective naive. Athletes will inevitably exploit genetic advances intended to benefit society as a whole. The entire concept of athletic competition may change. “The notion of the natural, unmodified human has been defunct for decades, yet sport remains caught in this notion that athletes are different,” says Dr. Andy Miah, a bioethicist at the University of Paisley in Scotland and author of the book Genetically Modified Athletes. “It is probable that we will soon find ourselves in a world where many people are created though genetic technology. Within the world of sport, we still lack a rigorous form of ethical debate.” Miah maintains there is a tangible difference between gene doping and more traditional performanceenhancing drugs. “Our concern about steroids derives from a concern about the abuse of drugs and their harmful consequences,” he observes. “We don’t have such concerns about gene-transfer technology. If these new forms of enhancement are sufficiently safe, why ban them? If they make the performance much more exciting and interesting, we will have good reason for using them.”

In the end, it will be up to athletes to decide whether they want to increase their chances of winning by doctoring their genes. Canadian sprint cyc- list Curt Harnett, one of Canada’s most celebrated Olympians, says athletes who used illegal steroids in the past will probably turn to gene therapy. “Body alteration is part of sport,” he says. “The question is how far you can push it before it becomes unfair? ” He believes certain physical attributes will always predispose athletes to perform certain sports. “That’s part of what this is all about,” says Harnett. “When I first started out, I wanted to ride the Tour de France, I didn’t want to be a sprinter. But that’s what my body turned out to be geared for. Even with doping, you really can’t turn a donkey into a racehorse.” Still, soon enough some geneticists just might want to try. If they succeed, will the world applaud them for making a scientific breakthrough or condemn them for creating a new way for athletes to cheat?