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Can gene doping build the perfect athlete?
From stimulants to steroids, growth hormones and even gene therapy, high-performance athletes routinely risk everything in their quest for gold. Canada has had its share of drug headlines, from disgraced Pan Am weightlifters to the Ben Johnson scandal and the Dubin Inquiry. In recent years, Canadian scientists, athletes and officials have been first out of the blocks in the race to keep sports safe and fair.
• Gene therapy experiments involving humans have been carried out since the early 1990s.
• As of 2004 there was no reliable method to detecting gene therapy. Proposed methods may require testers performing a biopsy, considered to be too intrusive for regular use in sports.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has already prohibited the practice to gain an edge in sports. WADA defines it as follows:
• "Gene or cell doping is defined as the non-therapeutic use of genes, genetic elements and/or cells that have the capacity to enhance athletic performance."
• In 2001 the International Olympic Committee and WADA held meetings with genetic experts to examine the potential impact of gene therapy in sport, the ethical implications of genetically modifying athletes, and possible methods of testing for genetic manipulation. The scientists agreed that they could see gene therapy and gene doping within five years.
• In the distant future, experts imagine that scientists could alter embryos in the womb in an effort to engineer designer athletes.
Program: Quirks & Quarks
Broadcast Date: June 26, 2004
Guest(s): Theodore Friendmann, Dick Pound, Angela Schneider, Lee Sweeney
Host: Bob McDonald
Duration: 20:53
Last updated: October 25, 2012
Page consulted on October 25, 2012
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