LONDON — Two groups of scientists have developed tests for gene doping in what the World Anti-Doping Agency hailed Friday as a major breakthrough in fighting the next frontier in cheating in sports.
Scientists in Germany said they have come up with a blood test that can provide “conclusive proof” of gene doping, even going back as far as 56 days from when the doping took place.
And a U.S.-French research team has devised its own method for detecting genetic doping in muscles.
The discoveries raise the possibility that a valid gene-doping test can be implemented by the 2012 London Olympics.
“This is a really significant and major breakthrough,” WADA director general David Howman said. “This is a project we’ve been engaged in since 2002. Now we’ve reached the situation where we’re pretty certain that it can be detected.”
Gene doping is the practice of using genetic engineering to artificially enhance athletic performance. It is a spinoff of gene therapy, which alters a person’s DNA to fight disease. The method is banned by WADA and the International Olympic Committee.
WADA funded $2 million in research projects to devise reliable tests, which have taken about four years to develop. Researchers said the tests can detect gene doping directly through blood samples.
“It’s not through markers, it’s through actual detection,” Howman said. “There’s a significant difference there. Using the marker method is more a probability approach, whereas the method these researchers have come up with is stone cold dead, 100 percent.”
Howman said the tests must still go through a scientific validation process but should be implemented “within two years.” Asked whether they would be ready in time for the London Olympics, he said, “It’s certainly possible.”
