Genes responsible for making top athletes, says top scientist

Researchers have found a ‘champions’ gene in top athletes

A top scientist from the National Academy of Sciences in Belarus told an audience in Dundee sporting success is achieved by genes and not drugs.

Professor Irma Mosse, who was addressing the International Conference of Clinical Sciences and Drug Discovery, was speaking against the background of the banning of Russian athletes from the Olympic Games in Brazil because of drug-taking.

Her team in the capital city of Minsk has been analysing athletic prowess and has found humans with the best prospects of success have “champion genes”.

She said: “People with more of these ‘champion genes’ are more likely to be good athletes than people who have a lesser amount of them.”

Her team based its findings on genetics tests carried out on top Belarus athletes, who were found to have a higher proportion of favourable genes than average.

Professor Mosse’s team has now turned its attention to research with children who have had tests to determine the presence of favourable sport genes.

“We have given this information to the children’s families, telling them that based on their genetic make-up they have the potential to be champion athletes,” the professor said.

“It is then up to the children to commit to specialist training programmes to develop as athletes.”

She continued: “The children we have been working with are about five years old, so we will know the success of this approach when they reach the age of about 15.

“What we are really saying is that genes make champions, not drugs.”

Professor Mosse’s research also has applications for general health, including detecting genetic predisposition to heart disease and other ailments, enabling preventative treatment to be administered.

Professor Nikolai Zhelev of Abertay University, who chaired the session at which Professor Mosse delivered her address, said: “Professor Mosse’s lecture caused a big interest at the conference, which was attended by top scientists from all continents.

“Currently the interest of scientists is shifting from drug doping to gene doping.

“We had three days of intense discussions involving academics, pharmaceutical companies and regulatory bodies.” aargo@thecourier.co.uk

Picture: PA. Top athletes like Usain Bolt are likely to have the ‘champions’ gene identified by scientists at the National Academy of Science in Belarus.