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Scientists from Russia have created a DNA test for "athlete genes"
Russian geneticists have developed a new DNA test that allows you to determine the presence of "sports" gene variations in the DNA of a child or any person and understand how much he will be predisposed to injury, the press service of Genotek reports.
"If a child is engaged in sports to which he has no hereditary predisposition, training is likely not to bring him pleasure, not to mention the fact that for children with a certain genotype, some sports will be traumatic. The genetic test will help parents choose the section that the child will like and will not harm his health," explained Valery Ilyinsky, geneticist, CEO of the company.
In recent years, geneticists, sports doctors and biologists have been actively arguing about how much variations in certain genes associated with muscle work, bone growth and metabolism affect the success of certain athletes. For this reason, scientists are actively studying the DNA of Usain Bolt and other outstanding athletes of our time and comparing them with the genomes of "ordinary people" in the hope of finding those variations in the genes that helped them succeed.
The product of these studies was the discovery of about two hundred genes, variations in which were associated with athletic success. For example, a certain version of the AGT gene is often found in weightlifting champions, and a rare variation of the ACTN3 gene is found in short–distance runners. Different versions of two other genes, ACE and PPAD-D, determine how actively muscles respond to training.
Such discoveries, as Ilyinsky notes, interested the leadership of the Moscow Sports, and four years ago it decided to launch a pilot project on genetic diagnostics of students from Olympic reserve schools. A similar test, which includes all the genes of interest to sports functionaries and coaches of the national team, can be passed by anyone in the company's laboratories today.
"Moskomsport recommends genetic testing, and parents are still consumers of such services. Therefore, the decision to undergo the analysis remains for the parents of a particular child. And later we hope to launch a joint project on a state basis," the scientist continues.
As scientists explain, the presence of such gene variations in a child is not a guarantee that he will necessarily occupy high places in those sports to which he will be predisposed – no less, and most often, a big role is played by the process of his preparation and the athlete's attitude to sports.
On the other hand, such tests can help coaches select the most promising athletes who are predisposed to their sport and disclose possible risk factors for their career in advance. Until now, genetic testing of future athletes has been massively used only in China, and now it may be used in Russia as well.
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