Alo, I am Gene Terrapy and I want to pump.
YOU UP.
It seems like sportsball isn't really about the actual sports anymore, but more about
the drama of the players lives, and how they made themselves into the buff pieces of gentleman
or ladymeat they are today.
Part of that massive swirling narrative, is the accusation that some sports stars cheat.
Whether it’s blood doping, deflating the game ball, or taking various myriad drugs;
it’s all about using science to gain the high ground.
And now, gene therapy might change athletics forever.
We've talked about gene therapy before, you know because you subscribe to DNews.
You do, subscribe to DNews, don't you?
;) Gene therapy is genetic modification of someone who's grown, it doesn't permanently
change the genetics, but it can alter them.
A retrovirus, called a vector, is genetically engineered to enter the cells of the patient
and alter a bit of DNA -- something viruses do naturally.
Gene therapy is used to cure genetic disorders, but this is different.
Rather than infecting the person to cure something, the vector is programmed to modify the athlete's
DNA and make their red blood cells carry more oxygen, make their muscle mass increase…
or whatever.
It's called gene doping, and it effectively makes athletes super-human.
The World Anti-Doping Agency -- an organization dedicated to fairness in athletics -- created
an expert group to root out any gene doping way before it actually started happening.
They’re recognizing it as a difficult and worrying trend in sports.
Gene doping is difficult to detect as it simply makes the athlete's body better at doing whatever
it can already do.
And it's already been done...
Experiments at Harvard in 1999 created genetically modified mice where a gene called IGF-1 was
altered; they had two copies, whereas most mice had only one.
The gene normally affects a protein called Myostatin.
The increased Myostatin levels allowed the mice to put on more muscle mass while exercising.
The genetically altered mice got 30 percent stronger; and this is the same protein we
have so maybe humans?
But that's not all, in 2004, experiments at the Salk Institute of Biological Studies found
the PPAR-Delta gene, which, when altered, let mice run twice as far for nearly twice
as long as regular mice.
The Harvard researchers said, "We certainly have no plans to add the gene to human embryos,"
but of course, with gene doping, we wouldn't actually need to.
In the late 90s, cyclists at the Tour de France were famously caught injecting their muscles
with erythropoietin (EPO) which causes increased red blood cell production.
Because the body produces it naturally, injections are hard enough to catch, but gene doping
might make it impossible.
Of course, modifying mice is a far cry from modifying humans.
The WADA announced adding an extra copy of the EPO gene could be deadly, causing the
blood to over-thicken and become sludgy.
Gene therapy, and doping is still highly experimental.
Even though we've sequenced the human genome, there's too so much information to point to
each exact gene to up athletic ability, but scientists are looking; they've counted 220
so far.
If we could safely modify the genetics of a living human, we could potentially make
people stronger, faster, with higher endurance, more resistant to disease and pain -- all
with things already in our own bodies.
But, obviously, there are dangers to be avoided.
The research base is there, and when it comes to sports the money is there, so it's only
a matter of time.
For now we can enjoy the benefits of other insane augmentations - Toyota has been doing
some tinkering of their own with the TRD line of Toyota Trucks.
Enhanced to rule the off-road!”
If you could make yourself stronger, faster, or whatever, would you?
What natural thing would you want to make super?