Cheats: stay away from London
Speakers responsible for detecting drug cheating at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games told the Festival on Monday that these will be the “riskiest games ever” for the dishonest athlete.
Professor David Cowan, director of the Drug Control Centre at King’s College, London, says that investment by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and other organisations has produced new ways of detecting drug cheats.
He says: “It was in February 2010 that we first detected Human Growth Hormone in an athlete. The problem with that test is that the hormone only stays in the body for a short time. But now we can detect biomarkers that can prove growth hormone abuse long after the drug is administered. That test will be there for 2012.”
The same applies to “autologous” blood transfusion, taking blood from an athlete and putting it back later to up their red blood cell count and their ability to push oxygen around the body. Working with the Partnership for Clean Competition in the US, Cowan has developed a test which uses the changes in blood cell RNA when it is removed from the body to detect autologous transfusion. In addition, h says, there is now a usable test for gene doping, the use of novel genetic material in the human body, for example to improve muscular strength.
Professor Ron Maughan of Loughborough University told the Festival briefing that current tests are so accurate that they create a new need to protect the innocent athlete. “Our test for nandralone detects 1-2 micrograms [millionths of a gram],” he says. “So if I took a spoonful of nandralone and put it in a swimming pool of water, and then gave a drink from the pool to every man, woman and child in Scotland, they would all test positive.”
This means that athletes have to be careful with diet supplements. These are permissible when pure but can be adulterated with steroids for muscle growth or stimulants in energy drinks.
Also speaking was Pauline Williams of GlaxoSmithKline, providers of laboratory services for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. GSK’s Harlow laboratory will be analysing 5000 samples from the Olympics and 1250 from the Paralympics, and is hiring 80 science graduates temporarily to help with the task. Cowan says: “This is about equal to a year of our usual work in a few weeks.”
Professor David Cowan, director of the Drug Control Centre at King’s College, London, says that investment by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and other organisations has produced new ways of detecting drug cheats.
He says: “It was in February 2010 that we first detected Human Growth Hormone in an athlete. The problem with that test is that the hormone only stays in the body for a short time. But now we can detect biomarkers that can prove growth hormone abuse long after the drug is administered. That test will be there for 2012.”
The same applies to “autologous” blood transfusion, taking blood from an athlete and putting it back later to up their red blood cell count and their ability to push oxygen around the body. Working with the Partnership for Clean Competition in the US, Cowan has developed a test which uses the changes in blood cell RNA when it is removed from the body to detect autologous transfusion. In addition, h says, there is now a usable test for gene doping, the use of novel genetic material in the human body, for example to improve muscular strength.
Professor Ron Maughan of Loughborough University told the Festival briefing that current tests are so accurate that they create a new need to protect the innocent athlete. “Our test for nandralone detects 1-2 micrograms [millionths of a gram],” he says. “So if I took a spoonful of nandralone and put it in a swimming pool of water, and then gave a drink from the pool to every man, woman and child in Scotland, they would all test positive.”
This means that athletes have to be careful with diet supplements. These are permissible when pure but can be adulterated with steroids for muscle growth or stimulants in energy drinks.
Also speaking was Pauline Williams of GlaxoSmithKline, providers of laboratory services for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. GSK’s Harlow laboratory will be analysing 5000 samples from the Olympics and 1250 from the Paralympics, and is hiring 80 science graduates temporarily to help with the task. Cowan says: “This is about equal to a year of our usual work in a few weeks.”
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