Australian Law Reforms Commission

The ALRC has just published its 1,000 page report on the legal aspects of using genetic information, 'Essentially Yours'. One entire section of this is dedicated to considering the legal/ethical aspects of how genetic info might be used in sport. The central concerns are whether sports authorities would be entitled to request such information and how it might be used as a way of excluding genetically risky people from participation. The report also highlights the prospect of identifying 'performance genes' and how these might also lead to new methods of talent identification. Selecting the next generation of elite winners might soon be based on a genetic profile rather than going out and watching kids play.

US President's Council on Bioethics

Today, the US President's Council on Bioethics held a symposium about genetic enhancement and sport. Perhaps not your usual forum for this kind of debate, though the Council has tended to spend time on issues that are not typically considered to be healthcare priorities for the US. In response, if one accepts that doping in sport is a public health concern - given that it can have implications for youth sport and drug use - then the Council might actually be heading up an important, new priority. The transcript of this meeting is online at: http://www.bioethics.gov/transcripts/jul02/session4.html

American Society of Gene Therapy

The annual meeting took place in Boston from 6-9 June and included a symposium on Gene Doping. Speakers and papers were as follows: Scientific Symposium SS310 Ethics - Genetic Enhancement for Athletic Performance Co-Chairs:

Theodore Friedmann, MD Johann Olaf Koss

Speakers:

Gary I. Wadler, MD Doping in Sport

Arne Ljungqvist, MD, PhD Present Problems in Doping - Detection and Screening

Barry J. Byrne, MD, PhD Gene Transfer for Sport Enhancement?

Johann Olaf Koss Gene Transfer Enhancement in Sport: An Athlete's Perspective

Maxwell Mehlman, JD Should Sport Open the Door to Genetic Enhancement?

Gene Cheats

Aschwanden, C. (2000). Gene Cheats. New Scientist. 2221: 24-29. Christie Aschwanden's article on genetic enhancement for sport is the first mainstream publication on this subject. It has become first of many articles about gene doping in the mass media, but remains one of the most thorough explorations of the issue.

Genetic Testing for Athletes

Jordan, B. D. (1998). "Genetic Susceptibility to Brain Injury in Sports: A Role for Genetic Testing in Athletes." The Physician and Sportsmedicine 26(2): Barry Jordan discusses the role of genetic information in sport, specifically considering what might be the legal entitlements of sports organisations, if there were a test for specific kinds of genetic predisposition. The example he considers is susceptibility to brain injury and whether this might be a basis for prohibiting certain people from participating in sports like boxing.

More moderate uses of this information can include alerting atheltes to potential risks, more effective monitoring for an athlete's safety, or rule changes to reduce risk.

However, it is necessary to take into account the ethical and legal implications of such knowledge. Should sports organisations be entitled to access such knowledge or can an athlete expect for it to remain private?