With the Beijing Olympics under way it might seem appropriate to discuss two articles on doping in sport that appeared recently.

The first is on gene doping from the July 31^st issue of The Economist and all about “transgenes”which are extra copies of particular genes that may be inserted using gene therapy. The top transgene according to one anti-doping expert is the gene for erythropoietin, EPO, which already exists in drug form and which has been used in endurance sports even though it is banned.

According to the article, The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) issued a proclamation banning the “non-therapeutic use of genes, genetic elements and/or cells that have the capacity to enhance athletic performance” in 2003 and since then tens of millions of dollars have been allotted to detecting differences between truly natural and therapeutically enhanced proteins or even the vectors, usually viruses, that are used to inject the transgenes into the places where they will function.

The second article is an editorial from Dr. Andrew Pipe in the August 12 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, “Doping, sport and the community” in which Dr. Pipe writes that doping strategies often seem to outpace antidoping programs and that costs of antidoping programs are high, increasingly complex and difficult to manage. The bureaucratic burden on athletes, physicians and sports organizations leads to concerns regarding the very sustainability of such programs.

One is left wondering exactly where this will lead. While some of the most fit and gifted athletes may be tempted to take unknown health risks to achieve Olympic success using banned substances or performance-enhancing drugs, what would people with serious health problems be willing to do?

With the 1,300 clinical trials under way involving gene therapy in efforts to produce reliable medical treatment it becomes clear that Canada not only needs to support the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport to assist in maintaining sporting integrity but that a regulatory mechanism is needed for gene therapy in general.