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gene doping

18.06.2013

Gene therapy has the potential to turn a decrepit heart into a young athlete's heart. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have discovered a gene that both suppresses tumor growth in breast cancer and strengthens the heart. Most cancer drugs, on the contrary, have a negative effect on the heart. Scientists hope that their discovery will make a breakthrough in the treatment of cancer. But it can be assumed that a breakthrough will also be in the methods of training athletes.

The fact that the HEXIM1 gene suppresses the development of breast cancer in mice, scientists learned last year. This year, they learned that the same gene increases the number and density of blood vessels in cells. This means that the heart begins to work better, endurance increases when performing physical exercises - just what athletes need in almost all sports. During the experiment, scientists transplanted the HEXIM1 gene into the heart of an adult mouse, and found that the heart grew and became heavier - and this without any training. At rest, the animal's heart rate decreased, and a lower pulse in this case indicates a more efficient work of the heart - a new heart pumps more blood per unit of time. In practice, this allowed the modified mouse to run twice as far as mice without genetic mutations.

Scientists are pleasantly surprised that the HEXIM1 gene turned out to be beneficial for the heart. They hope that its use will simultaneously solve two problems - to cure a dangerous type of cancer and save from heart problems. The gene makes an ordinary heart function like an athlete's heart - without any training. Usually, cancer drugs have a negative effect on the heart, and here you can not only preserve its functions, but even improve it.

However, while scientists have not asked ethical questions: will their discovery be used for fraud in sports? Athletes with the help of the HEXIM1 gene can improve their abilities without training and thereby gain an advantage over rivals. A kind of natural doping will make an athlete more resilient, allow him to overcome long distances without fatigue, withstand grueling workouts - in a word, stay in shape when his rivals already feel tired. Perhaps it is too early to sound the alarm, because the new method of treatment has not passed the required number of tests and it is not known whether it will be used at all in the future to treat heart disease. However, dishonest athletes also took much more dangerous drugs in order to win.

Do not forget that the main purpose of HEXIM1 is to suppress the growth of cancer cells. Scientists intend to start such tests in the near future - powerful drugs will be tested on people with cancer.

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