ABSTRACT
Gene transfer aimed at enhancing athletic performance employs the same techniques as those used in gene transfer for therapeutic purposes. Gene enhancement techniques pose several risks to the health of the athlete that relate both to the kind of vector being employed, and to the encoded transgene. Gene transfer differs from other more traditional modes of doping insofar as, instead of administering the doping substance to the athlete exogenously, a gene is administered to the body via a carrier, so that the body itself will produce erythropoietin in higher quantities. In 2001, shortly after the creation of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Olympic Committee convened the first working group on gene doping. WADA wants to make sure that all possibilities of gene or cellular transfer aimed at enhancing athletic performance are covered under the wide umbrella of 'gene doping'.
