World Anti-Doping Agency to ban Gene Editing from 2018

Gene doping to be added to Wada ban list….

From 2018 The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will be extending the laws on Gene doping.

“Gene Editing” will now be included to the WADA list because of the performance enhancing properties and potential benefits it has to a sportsperson.

According to WADA “Gene Editing” is agents designed to alter genome sequences and/or the transcriptional or epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Until recently “Gene Editing” had not been included to the list of things that an athlete cannot do.

The development of tweaking genes has been fast advancing since 2012, because of a method called CRISPR.

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CRISPR or Cas9 allows the permanent modification of genes within organisms, which if used in the wrong way can enhance a person’s DNA and allow added properties to improve performance.

WADA spokesperson Maggie Durand says “Generally, performance enhancement implies enhancement beyond a return to normal, although you may appreciate that this is not always easy to prove definitively,”

The question WADA need to answer is, for those that have been doing “Gene Editing” to gain a competitive advantage before it’s placed on the banned list, how easy will it be to detect those people?

With CRISPR allowing small altercations to the DNA will it not be easier to hide the properties that are allowing these enhancing abilities and/or will it not be viewed simply as an individual’s evolution as the altercations are made to the DNA, which are genetic instructions used in the growth and development of all individuals.

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