ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors consider two plausible scenarios in which an individual is seeking treatment with the gene transfer tools to cope better with pain. In the first scenario the individual is a patient; in the second an athlete. The authors employ a comparative strategy to highlight the similarities and dissimilarities between the ethical frameworks used to evaluate the two scenarios, and to reach the conclusions regarding the justifiability of the potential practice. The World Anti-Doping Agency sets out three criteria used in the decision to call a product or process ‘doping’. These pertain to the (potential) performance-enhancing effects; the potential harm to the health; the (potential) health risks. In endurance sports, the use of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-gene transfer as an endurance enhancement technology is not merely ethically unjustifiable; it compromises an element essential to the activity itself.
