Special Reports

The war against gene-doping athletes has begun. A lab renowned for testing human athletes, racehorses and greyhounds for illicit drug use has been asked to research ways to catch athletes who use gene therapy to enhance their performance.

Mice have already been genetically modified to become stronger and run for longer (New Scientist, 28 August, p 12). Similar techniques could in principle be used by athletes. The World Anti-Doping Agency is worried that the technology is advancing fast enough to pose a serious threat to the integrity of the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing.

It has funded a $400,000 three-year project by HFL, the former Horse Racing Forensic Laboratory, near Newmarket in the UK, to look for ways to detect introduced genes that boost muscle growth by coding for insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and similar proteins. Increased levels of such proteins should be detectable in blood samples.