gene doping/PED tattoos?

[Ron Swanson]

Both of these methods of doping seem to be highly effective and next to impossible to catch. Do you think they've entered the sporting realm and if so what sports for which?

Gene doping is complex. Basically you take a virus and remove the problematic attributes and attach possitive traits like improved oxygen capacity for instance. The virus spreads as normal but instead of spreading something bad it spreads something good. I'm not even sure of the moral stance with this. It seems like it would be used in endurance sports. Word is we are decades from being able to catch people for this.

PED Tattoos are as they sound. Delivering PEDs through tattoo needles. Apparently with the agitation of a tattoo needle the body responds by increasing blood flow to the area so you can take a much smaller dose and have the same effect. Small enough doses to pass PED tests. I could see this running rampant in the NBA.

[Master]

I am so out of touch and naive concerning PED, I still believe that no body takes them until they are caught.

[zhubin]

PED's are now pretty common in most professional sports...people who think otherwise are being very naive. The testing is so behind the new drugs it's quite pathetic. For example...HGH (human growth hormone) has been around forever (it was widely used by body builders even back in the 1970's). But it only became a big deal when baseball FINALLY addressed the drug issue with the Bonds/Mcgwire/Sosa, etc. in the last decade or two. I think the Olympics have the right idea...take and store athletes bloods...so as tests become better at detecting some of these new performance enhancers...the blood is there to retest. But there is also the issue of whether the governing bodies of certain sports WANT to catch dirty athletes. Potentially having superstars get busted isn't good for business.

[J_Undisputed]

Gene doping sounds like they would need a control sample taken at an early point in order to catch you .


As for the Tattoos.. Having a few tats and designing them for people, I would imagine that there would be some sort of scarring. It has to be done right. All tattoos will scab over but if you have a poor tattoo artist that goes too deep, the design will be raised after and you can feel the lines if you run your fingers over with your eyes closed. What your feeling is scar tissue. Technically you could get a regular tattoo right before getting in the ring and still have the resulting euphoria from the endorphins (think runners high) which you would eventually get anyway. You would also have to deal with the fever though (which you also get from something like a fracture or a broken jaw- the body natural response) .. In the long term I would have to wonder how often it would have to be reapplied. Very easy to mask if you're a spadafora or collazo type that's tatted up to your eyeballs.

[Master]

Judge Judy like hair testing for drugs.

[Ron Swanson]

I am so out of touch and naive concerning PED, I still believe that no body takes them until they are caught.

Me too. I occasionally fall into reading things about it by looking for one thing and google suggestions catching my eye. I can't even figure out if gene doping is wrong. I mean a temporary boost is one thing but to modify yourself permanently without side effects, how is that wrong? It's basically taking training to the doctors. PEDs are illegal and have side effects that some people aren't willing to risk. So those that aren't willing are handicapped. But improving body function, somehow that seems okay. I mean if you have a heart issue you get surgery. If your body doesn't transfer enough oxygen to your muscles and that can be permanently fixed with a quick shot, why not? It won't be long before they are improving brain function to performance enhance. And if pushing the boundaries for athletes money is what it takes for ways to develope to help sick people then there's benefits. A normal system takes forever to take tiny medical steps but athletes will do anything. Hell, for gene doping they are looking into possibly using HIV to deliver it throughout the body. That isn't going to happen in normal medicine. After it's done I have little doubt they'll find dozens if not hundreds of other ways to benefit the sick.

I'm terribly against any form of cheating. But pushing boundaries is how you make discoveries.

[palmerq]

Cycling doping is a good thing to look into, there has been a major crackdown on drugs in that sport and a lot of the little guys who got caught have been quite open in their interviews of what they were up to and how they avoided testing positive.. Doping was so rife in cycling, a sport with small financial gain, and it seemed fairly easy for guys to cheat independently I would be amazed if there was not a lot of drug cheats in the major leagues of sports where drug testing is lax and the money is huge. Why not cheat :S