it seems like something out of a sci-fi
movie but what if you could hack your
DNA to make you run faster jump higher
will become stronger
elite athletes are always looking for a
competitive edge training hard to
achieve peak performance but some take
it further pushing beyond the natural
limits of their bodies through
artificial means anti-doping agencies
try to stay one step ahead of the cheeks
developing new tests to identify
performance-enhancing drugs but there is
a new technology on the horizon that
could be a game-changer gene doping is
when an athlete edits some of their
genes to permanently alter their DNA
enhancing their sporting performance can
you imagine if we can actually edit our
genes to make us Superman to enhance our
bodies so that we can have longer and
longer endurance with most doping agents
you administer them and after a period
time the effect wears off with gene
doping you have the opportunity to have
a permanent effect what they're trying
to do is to gain an unfair advantage by
putting genetic material into their
bodies to make them into super athletes
many athletes are opposed to taking
shortcuts to achieve victory
levira and Lina Nielsen are identical
twins who train and race together hoping
to achieve their goal of Olympic glory
we've both been running for about 10
years now but we've been trained
professionally for about 3 years we know
that if we want to compete really well
become the summer then we have to train
really hard in the winter and when we do
get to training it's it 100% commitment
and so sometimes it means being at uni
from 9:00 to 5:00 in the day and then
comes to training at 6:00 p.m. and you
know you're pretty much mentally
exhausted at that point but you just
have to find that extra push my sister
and I both clean athlete and we get
randomly tested in competition but there
are those people who will kill go there
extra mile just to try and get that
advantage in that their answer to that
is to dope gene doping could have an
even greater impact on the sport than
performance-enhancing drugs because the
effects can be permanent the changes are
difficult to detect as the modified DNA
appears as a natural part of the body at
the time of conception genes from our
mother and genes from our father are
combined to make us the body then
continues to reproduce those genes that
we were born with imagine now if we
could take an external gene that has
been edited in order to enhance a muscle
and that were to be injected into the
body the body then would reproduce that
modified gene and that's what gene
doping is at this moment gene editing is
still at clinical trial stage and can
have severe side effects from triggering
cardiac arrests to causing cancer
athletes who are willing to gene-dope
could be putting their lives at risk
what constitutes doping in sport has not
always been clear-cut some treatments
that could enhance performance are
allowed under the world anti-doping
agency if an athlete has a medical
condition this has led to a blurring of
the lines where athletes who follow the
rules are called cheats Simone biles won
four goals in Rio but some complained
that the medication she took for ADHD
gave her an unfair advantage as it
increased her ability to focus
hackers alleged she used a banned
substance she responded on Twitter
in some cases gene editing is just
another form of therapeutic medicine and
the treatment could revolutionize injury
recovery by helping target muscle growth
to a specific area of weakness
we need sportsmen to be able to repair
injuries if we could get a treatment
that had no misuse potential then the
debate must be about allowing it and
this is the sticking point while for
some gene editing may be a legitimate
way to ensure a level playing field for
injured athletes it is harder to answer
the charge that it enhances performance
when you have an injury that's obviously
part and parcel of sport and training
and I think you should go over that in
the most natural way that you can with
all the risks in gene editing and the
whole reason to dope just to win and
then to get all those risks and side
effects after you've you've retired it's
just not worth it
the boundaries between science and sport
are constantly shifting and while
scientific advances should be welcomed
it is important that they don't
undermine fair competition
you
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