In 2016,
Belgian cyclist Femke Van den Driessche
made sporting history
for a surprising reason.
It wasn't for her success
in the Cyclocross Championships
becoming Belgian champion
in her age group.
Instead, she was the first cyclist
ever sanctioned by the UCI
for mechanical doping.
Mechanical doping is a form of cheating
using technology
to get an unfair advantage
and in this case
a bicycle was found
with a motor hidden inside.
And this was a big deal.
The first time in cycling history
where evidence of technological fraud
was found.
Cycling has faced
more than its fair
share of sporting scandals.
But the next controversy
might not come about
because of modified equipment,
but because of modified genes.
To understand
this, you have to understand
what gene therapy is
and how scientists created
what's being called Schwarzenegger mice.
Gene therapy is
a process to treat disease
through the genetic modification
of cells.
The basic idea behind gene
therapy is to fix a genetic problem
at the source.
What can happen
is that a gene could have a mutation
that leads to disease.
So the idea behind gene
therapy is to replace that gene
with a copy
without the mutation,
and that functions correctly.
This isn't just a theory or something
that might happen in the future.
There are gene
therapies being used right now.
The first FDA approved
gene therapy
drugs were approved in 2017
including one to treat acute
lymphoblastic leukemia.
That does this
by using the body's own T cells
to fight the cancer.
Do you remember bubble boy disease?
The extremely rare genetic condition
that causes children
to have extremely limited immune systems.
This condition, known
as severe
combined immunodeficiency,
has been treated with experimental gene
therapy treatments
and with significant success.
So much so
that children have been able to live
fairly normal lives.
With the technology and benefits understood,
there is a potential for gene
therapy to be used
not just to fight diseases,
but to benefit athletes in
something known as gene doping.
To understand how gene
therapy could be used by athletes,
I want to introduce you to marathon mice
and Schwarzenegger mice.
In 2004 scientists
at Howard Hughes Medical Institute
enhance the function of a single protein,
allowing mice
to have altered muscle composition,
giving them physical endurance to
run twice as far as normal mice.
This treatment could be used to support
patients with debilitating illnesses
that limits their ability to exercise.
But of course, has the potential
to be used by athletes.
And it's not just running.
In 2007,
researchers at the University
of Pennsylvania
developed the gene transfer technology
where they injected
normal mice with a virus
containing the gene for insulin growth.
Factor one, a protein
which makes muscle fibers grow.
And the result was nicknamed
super mice, or Schwarzenegger mice
with enormous muscles
and significant strength into old age
While there haven't been
proven cases of gene doping in humans,
it is something that the sporting bodies
are taking seriously.
The World
Anti-Doping Agency
has proactively banned it
as invested in ways to detect it.
There's enormous potential
for gene therapy in the technology
in the future.
Researchers such as Professor
Nigel McMillan at Griffith University
are exploring
how this technology can be used
for cancer treatment.
So gene therapy is now a reality
and we can treat many serious illnesses.
But this gene replacement therapy
kind of like swapping out
the entire engine in your car
will be replaced with CRISPR technology.
With CRISPR,
we only replace the broken bits
in your engine or your genome
while it's still running.
So with this new technology,
we will now
be able to treat many more illnesses,
including cancers.
So watch this space
as an example for using gene
therapy technology.
We can look for
how it's been used to cure
cervical cancer.
The cancer is driven
by a virus with a mutant gene.
With enhanced tools
to do the gene editing.
Notably CRISPR,
a technology
which allows the precise and specific
editing of the DNA sequence.
Scientists target these genes
and allow the healthy genes to remain,
and the trials have been highly positive
with 100% survival and success
rate in animal trials.
A world first using CRISPR
gene editing therapy.
And these trials will move to humans
in the coming years.