The Pros And Cons Of EPO

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Ryan Vu

EPO (Draft)

Lance Armstrong is one of the most recognized athletes of the 20th century. He is well known for his seven Tour de France victories. It is one of the most famous and rigorous cycling competitions because of its length, which is over 1,000 miles. It is a huge accomplishment to win just a single Tour de France, but his feat has never been repeated. As he rode triumphantly in his yellow jersey drinking champagne through Paris, he was glorified for his accomplishments. Many people were idolizing him since it was an unimaginable feat. Despite his denial, rumors were spread that he was using performance-enhancing drugs. After years of innocent claim, he finally admitted to doping. One of the drugs that he used was EPO. Many people were unaware of the drug until Lance Armstrong admitted to using it. The substance allowed his body to produce more red blood cells, thus increasing his oxygen carrying capacity and significantly increased his endurance. However, EPO has been very useful to sick patients in need red blood cells. Despite the abuse of EPO by athletes, it can also help patients with a variety of diseases, and therefore the benefits outweigh the risks.
Genetic engineering is defined as the direct manipulation of genes for practical purposes (citation). It is modifying an organism’s genome using biotechnology (citation). An example of genetic engineering is recombinant DNA technology, which is using DNA from two different sources (citation). This means you can insert the DNA from one species into another in order to make useful proteins. This technology can be used to develop useful human proteins. Some proteins that have been made from recombinant DNA technology are insulin, HGH, Ce...

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...at is injected cannot be distinguished from natural EPO that is produced in the body. Also, any EPO would be undetectable in the urine after 3-4 days. Cyclists either use just enough so it’s undetectable, or use saline to thin their blood.
In conclusion, the use of genetic engineering is very useful, as it can produce many products that can benefit us in many ways. Examples of this include genetically engineered crops that last longer, and are more nutritious, as well as medication that can be mass-produced. Using recombinant DNA technology, EPO was mass-produced in hamster ovarian cells, which aids patients suffering from anemia due to IBD, and chemo or radiation therapy. Even though athletes, such as Lance Armstrong, abuse it in order to cheat, the advantages of helping millions of people far outweigh the disadvantages and should continue to be produced.

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