Faculty Fellow Diana Bowman recently gave a talk at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney on her new project – The potential impact of human embryonic gene editing on global sports: Preparing for 2036.
Bowman and Faculty Fellow Andrew Maynard received funding from ASU’s Global Sports Initiative to study the future of gene editing in sports – sometimes called Gene Doping. Gene editing techniques, like CRISPR, could be used to produce athletes that are stronger, faster, and smarter than their peers. According to Bowman, whether we’ll see genetically modified athletes is not an “if” but a “when.”
“We propose many governments will not only allow human germline editing for enhancement but will actively facilitate the use of the technology to gain an unprecedented advantage,” said Bowman to UNSW. The geo-political nature of sports likely assures the existence of gene doping programs in the future. The only question is what to do about them.
The talk was part of UNSW’s Grand Challenges program in partnership with the PLuS Alliance. Learn more about Bowman’s talk and project here.