Gene therapy looms as next temptation
It is a tale of mice and men. Or, rather, of men who want to be mice. Once researchers at the University of Pennsylvania produced a ''Schwarzenegger mouse" half a dozen years ago by injecting it with a gene that produced huge muscles, athletes began contacting lab director H. Lee Sweeney, volunteering to become human lab rats.
At a time when elite athletes are injecting themselves with designer steroids and testosterone and human growth hormones and erythropoietin in an effort to gain a winning edge, the next frontier for dopers is gene therapy. ''People are determined to cheat, no matter what the cost," says Dr. Gary Wadler, a New York University medical professor and author of ''Drugs and the Athlete."
Though scientists are hoping to use it to treat diseases like muscular dystrophy, athletes already have seen the potential benefits of an insulin-like growth-factor gene (IGF-1) that can build Mighty Mouse muscles that stay massive for years and keep high-paying careers going indefinitely.
While the side effects of gene therapy are unknown and it may be years before the methods are ready for human use, that hasn't kept the athletes from knocking on researchers' doors.
''The sports world doesn't always wait to be safe," says Dr. Theodore Friedmann, who runs the human gene therapy program at the University of California/San Diego.
What works on a mouse may not work on a man, and scientists warn that the methods are still in the experimental stage.
''Things are very different when you go from an animal to a human," says Friedmann, who works with the World Anti-Doping Agency. ''Given the current methodology, anyone who tries it on humans is flirting with real disaster."
Though researchers say it likely will be several years before athletes begin experimenting with gene therapy, the WADA already has added it to its global banned list.
''Any time there's a breakthrough, you'll also see an athlete out there saying, 'If I use this, can I enhance my performance?' " says Wadler. ''To think that's ever going to change is naive."
