Genetics plays an extremely important role in modern sports. Most elite athletes are genetically predispositioned to be bigger, faster, and stronger individuals, and therefore tend to be more successful athletically. Doctors F. Gomez-Gallego and J. R. Ruiz collaborated to study the genetic makeup of elite athletes further by examining if they are genetically predisposed to have lower risk of developing disease.
This article included a study of 100 male non-athletes (control subjects) and 100 male elite endurance athletes (test subjects). The elite athlete group consisted of 50 endurance runners, all of which had participated in at least one Olympiad, and 50 professional road cyclists, who had all participated in the Tour de France. Researches extracted DNA from either saliva or blood samples from all test subjects between 2004 and 2008. These samples were then analyzed for 33 disease risk-related mutations and polymorphisms. All genotyping was done using low-density DNA microarray based on allele-specific probes. From this information, the researchers created a total genotype score (0-100) by combining point values based on the number of unfavorable alleles (associated with susceptibility to diseases) that an individual possessed. This total genotype scoring procedure has been used in several other application studies.
After analyzing all 200 DNA samples and calculating their total genotype score, researches analyzed the data. They concluded that the total genotype scores for the control group were 23.8+/-1.0, and the scores for the athletes were 24.2+/-0.8. The slight difference in these scores was analyzed and considered to be statistically irrelevant. Based on the analyse done in this article, athletes are not genetically predisposed to lower disease risk.
Although elite athletes are not genetically predisposed to lower disease risk, they often have much lower rates of common diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. This is primarily due to the fact that their lifestyle promotes much healthier living than sedimentary individuals. In some sense, they may be considered genetically predisposed to lower disease risk. Although not directly related, elite athletes' genetic predisposition to being more athletic tends to push them towards a healthier lifestyle than those whose genes do not provide them with as much athletic ability.
The study was limited in several aspects, primarily the fact that it only examined 33 polymorphisms and mutations that could potentially affect disease risk. The study was also limited by the fact that the model used does not account for potential complex interactions between genetic variants. This happened because these interactions are mostly either not known, or not fully understood. Further research about how genetic variants interact with each other would need to be done in order to expand the credibility of this type of genetic testing even further.
-Josh Liptak
Why do you think this study was done only on males. I have alot of female friends who are athletes and I wonder the same thing about them, but this study didnt seem to talk about women as much or at all?
ReplyDeleteMegan Rutherford
My question is, I wonder if this article takes into account the athletes who are pushing themselves too hard to be the best? I only ask because I know that this type of lifesyle can take an extreme toll on the body. A lot of girls and young women starve themselves in order to maintain an "ideal" weight in their minds. I just wonder if these scientists are looking at the downside to being an elite athlete as well as the benefits? -Magen
ReplyDeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteThe article didn't give any reasons why they only included males in their study. This was the first published study examining this area, so studying only males was probably due to the fact that both doctors were males and would feel more comfortable dealing with male athletes. Physiologically, males are more likely to be elite athletes, so this could factor into their decision as well.That being said, there are obviously many female athletes. This study should definately be expanded to include female athletes to see if there is any difference based on sex.
-Josh Liptak