Slashdot Mirror
Jocks v. Nerds: Detecting Gene-Dopers
kevinvee writes "The World Anti-Doping Agency will soon put into place gene doping tests to detect athletes using gene therapy. Perhaps the most important part to recognize is that Congress delegates have said that gene doping is a 'clear and present danger.' Professor Geoff Goldspink mentions this of gene therapy: 'We can put genes into mice and create Arnold Schwarzenegger mice.' So, be sure to watch next year's elections for furry white mice."
Does this mean that instead of running around the maze, they suddenly start running for governor?
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Vote Algernon in 2004!
Moo
a 25% increase in muscle mass in 2 weeks
So, I can go from an 80 pound weakling to a 100 pound beefcake in the time it takes me to compile Gentoo on my P2-300?
Those jocks from highschool are going to be sorry they shoved me in my locker...
everyday...
twice.
And thus, the hunt for the mutants has begun.
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
I'm sorry, but I think the probability of safe gene-doping existing is still well-within the realm of science fiction. And even if it existed, so what? Does that mean that if I dope with Michael Johnson's genes and go into a meet against Michael Johnson, that I will have an advantage? Would johnson have to quit the meet if they deem that his natural genes are better than the other athletes? And some gene therapies have caused death. it's not that stable. What we've found is that at the olympic level, training and diet do far more for atheletic performance than faddish treatments. Maybe this would be used in bodybuilding where they through all sorts of chemicals at their bodies, but I doubt it for the performance events. And finally, whether it's valid or not, they've gotten too zealous about the testing. The cold medicine disqualification of the russian gymnast last olympics is an example of how things have gone too far.
The earth, everyone knows, was commissioned by the white mice as a great computer to compute the question to Life, the Universe, and Everything, for which the answer is 42, and was built by the custom luxury planet builders of Magrithea, although it was destroyed just before it had found the question.
... So what would happen was that the mice would run round mazes and things so that the whole nature of the learning process could be examined. From our observations of their behavior we were able to learn all sorts of things about our own...'
"'These creatures you call mice, you see, they are not quite as they appear. They are merely the protrusion into our dimension of vastly hyperintelligent pandimensional beings. The whole business with the chesse and the squeaking is just a front.'
The old man pause, and with a sympathetic frown continued. 'They've been experimenting on you, I'm afraid.'
Arthur thought about this for a seond, and then his face cleared.
'Ah no,' he said, 'I see the source of the misunderstanding now. No, look, you see what happened was that we used to do experiements on them.
Arthur's voice trailed off.
'Such subtlety...' said Slartibartfast, 'one has to admire it.'"