British Athletics - gene therapy

[Freddythefrog]

OK so I am out in the garden on the best day in years, with the radio on doing a bit of paper work. BBC Radio 5 live coming from European team athletics championships. Will Perry is the on-site anchorman and I believe he is talking to Alison Curbishley. They are previewing the women's 800m and talking about Jenny Meadows. She is 33 and coming back from injury and Curbishley is talking about the return. Curbishley describes the medical team have been working with Jenny doing everything they can to support her recovery. They have done everything including gene therapy !

I stopped. I listened. The conversation changed direction. Does anyone have any information on what is actually going on. Was this a slip of the tongue, did I hear it correctly or is UK Athletics on a program using one of those areas the dopers would like to declare as "yet to be defined" ? ie a bit like some of us suspect BC are doing with CNP its not illegal until they find a test of making it illegal, until then we will just carry on hitting the ball into the broad goal that is the blood passport.

 

[pancakes]

Yep, been working with a company called "DNAfit" according to an Independent on line article.

 

[Will Carter]

Yep, been working with a company called "DNAfit" according to an Independent on line article.

Checked their website - its a diet plan that is apparently the best fit for your DNA make up rather than the Ernst Stavro Blofeld kind of gene manipulation that people were hoping for ...

 

[Catwhoorg]

The other thing that UK Sport is doing generally is taking good athletes and putting them through a battery of testing to find what event is the right fit for them.

This was how Lizzy Yarnold got introduced to the Skeleton and won a Gold at the Sochi winter Olympics.


"Gene therapy" in the doping sense is not currently feasible.

 

[pancakes]

Yes. They can tell you what will break first on your body and what you should eat as an athlete. Lucky she found them....good luck to her.