Special Event - Sessions of special interest to ACSM members that reach a broader audience. Special events include 3 - 4 speakers with time allotted for an introduction and overview and overall discussion.

Title: Gene Doping in Sport: Separating Hype from Reality

Overview:

There is increasing press coverage and public awareness of the idea of gene therapy for performance improvement in sport, and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has begun to hold meetings dedicated to developing policy to regulate “gene doping” for athletic performance. The intensive media coverage has overshadowed the significant technological challenges that scientists have yet to overcome in making gene therapy a reality. Three speakers will address the various issues related to gene doping, providing the ACSM membership with an excellent introduction to this topic that will educate members on the reality of the current situation and the anticipated progression of the issue in the future. Given the intensive media coverage of gene doping in sport, despite no clear evidence that such performance enhancement has been attempted, this issue should be recognizable to the entire ACSM membership and such a symposium will be an excellent opportunity for members to learn more about the realities of the issue, including the scientific and ethical challenges. We expect that this will be a highly attended session with significant audience participation, thus we have submitted this symposium under the Special Event category.

Stephen M. Roth, Ph.D., University of Maryland, actively researches genetic aspects of skeletal muscle and will organize and introduce the session. Gary Wadler, MD, FACSM, serves on the Health, Medicine and Research Committee in WADA and has extensive experience in the area of drug use in sport. Dr. Wadler will provide an overview of the issue of gene doping in sport and discuss the role of WADA in its regulation. WADA is sponsoring its second gene-doping summit in December 2005, and Dr. Wadler will update members on the discussions held at that meeting. Dr. Theodore Friedmann, MD, is the Director of the University of California San Diego’s Gene Therapy Program and is a member of WADA’s Health, Medicine and Research Committee. Dr. Friedmann will provide an introduction to gene therapy and discuss the current state of the science as it relates to gene doping in sport. He will also discuss the challenges of laboratory testing to discover illicit gene therapy for the purpose of performance enhancement. Finally, Dr. Andy Miah, Ph.D., is a bioethicist who has written extensively about gene doping in sport, including a recent book, Genetically Modified Athletes (2004, Routledge). Dr. Miah will discuss the complex ethical issues underlying gene doping for performance enhancement. Considerable time has been devoted to a discussion period for the panelists following the talks.