1. Genetic Doping In Sports

2. What Is Genetic Doping?
Genetic doping unlike gene therapy, doesn’t have the purpose of restoring a function or a part of a missing gene. Instead, the DNA is inserted for the purpose of enhancing overall physical performance.
The way it works is that scientists use vectors that carry the gene that is chosen into the body infecting cells with the gene, spreading throughout the body which it will enhance performance of the person or animal that it is sent into.

3. What is Genetic Doping Continued…
The Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), an international organization defines doping as “nontherapeutic use of cells, genes, genetic elements, or modulation of gene expression, having the capacity to enhance performance”.

4. The Science And Research Behind It
Physiology professor Lee Sweeney of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine is one of the lead researchers in the gene therapy field, and has already had requests for gene doping from heavy weight lifters. All this attention was gained after his discovery of a potential way to reverse muscle degeneration diseases like Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Working with a breed of mice with the mutation in the dystrophin gene, Sweeney and his team were able to determine that when a protein called insulin-like growth factor 1 interacted with the muscle cells, it actually caused the cells to grow.

5. The Science And Research Behind It Continued…
Another team of scientists were also testing in California with a different protein, they found that the mice with the injected gene caused the mice to able to run up to twice the distance.

6. Is Genetic Doping Unethical?
Genetic doping is thought to be unethical because of the applications of the process. It could increase muscle growth, cause mice to go twice their normal speed, and other applications that are all quite beneficial with no real damage affected to the body it was injected into.

7. Is Genetic Doping Unethical Continued…
This can all be done with the injection of a protein, and it is understandable that people would be mad with one person beating another with the simple injection of a couple proteins.
This process could even increase overall productivity, capability, and health of the human race, but it seems unethical to control the physical power of human race with stated earlier, just one injection.

8. In What Way Has It Changed Sports?
Genetic doping has made the way organizations like the Olympic committee over see drug tests. It has made what the tests look for more advance and cutting edge. This has had an affect of how proactive organizations like the Olympic committee.
This has been shown with the crackdown on doping in sports, an example of this would be the Russian team being banned in the winter Olympics over their shrewd use of doping.

9. In What Way Has It Changed Sports Continued…
The US biotech firm Amgen found a way to detect which athletes where using these new performance enhancing drugs with a synthetic version of the blood-boosting hormone erythropoietin.
In total it has changed the way we look at doping, made organizations look harder for cheaters, and changed the technology we use to find these cheaters.

10. Bibliography
Niiller, E. (2016 , July 28). Olympic Drug Cops Will Scan for Genetically Modified Athletes. Retrieved from Wired : drug-cops-will-scan-genetically-modified-athletes/
Scitable by Nature Education. (2008, June 27). Sports, Gene Doping and WADA. Retrieved from Scitable: gene-doping-and-wada-764
Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia . (2018, January 27). Gene Doping. Retrieved from Wikipedia :