LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Towards a robust test to detect gene doping for anabolic enhancement in human athletes.

Photo from wikipedia

Success in gene therapy in treating human disease makes this technology attractive to enhance athletic performance, creating the need for gene doping detection. In 2021, WADA approved the first gene… Click to show full abstract

Success in gene therapy in treating human disease makes this technology attractive to enhance athletic performance, creating the need for gene doping detection. In 2021, WADA approved the first gene doping test. Here we describe a new method to detect doping with four additional genes, follistatin, growth hormone 1, growth hormone releasing hormone and insulin-like growth factor 1, that may improve performance by increasing muscle size and strength. The method utilises four hydrolysis probe-based PCR assays that target the transgenes based on the coding sequence of the four endogenous genes. The assays are specific, reproducible and capable to detect 5 copies of transgene in the presence of very similar endogenous gene in 25 000 times excess. To underpin reliable and comparable routine method performance by doping testing laboratories, a synthetic reference material for the method was designed and generated following the ISO Guide 35. The complete method was validated in blood samples using plasma as extraction matrix and QIAamp DNA blood midi DNA extraction kit. All blood samples from different donors (n=8) simulated to be negative or positive (1 500 transgene copies spiked per millilitre of blood) for the transgenes were reported correctly. The new method that targets four additional genes will extend the capabilities of laboratories involved in doping control to protect athletes health, fairness and equality.

Keywords: gene; test; method; blood; detect; gene doping

Journal Title: Drug testing and analysis
Year Published: 2022

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.