What is possible? Imminent applications for the genetically modified athlete

If genetic modification is poised to make the application of anti-doping highly problematic, then it is pertinent to outline what are the specific and varied kinds of effects that might arise from such technology and how athletes might actually use genetics. It is also necessary to conceptualise genetics in relation to performance. A great deal has been written about the genetic basis of performance, often to answer questions about why some kinds of athletes perform with greater success than others (Entine, 2000; St Louis, 2003). Yet little has been discussed in relation to how this (mis)information might be used to modify performance and what it might require to effect such a change.