Stem Cell Doping

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Recommended: Performance enhancing drugs within sports

The term “doping” is often used to describe an athlete that is using performance enhancing drugs to have an edge over the competition. Primarily banned due to the countless side-effects that outweigh their purpose, performance enhancing drugs are foreign chemicals that change the way the body operates naturally. Stem Cell medicine however, has become a controversial topic in the world of sports medicine because it is the first method that does not introduce foreign material to the body, and it also does not change the way the body functions naturally. As technology advances the definition of what is considered cheating must be reevaluated. Stem Cell treatment should not be categorized alongside harmful drugs such as anabolic steroids, stimulants, gene doping or peptide hormones.

There is much confusion behind the different types of “doping” when it comes to the manipulation of cells and DNA. The International Olympic Committee as well as WADA, World Anti-Doping Agency has set a clear standard on what is to be considered an illegal drug or illegal act of performance enhancement; however they have not stated clearly why stem cells are part of this standard. Instead both WADA and the International Olympic Committee have sanctioned all treatments involving genetic technology unethical. Gene or Cell doping is defined by these agencies as “the non-therapeutic use of genes, genetic elements and or cells that have the capacity to enhance athletic performance.” What degree of enhancing is considered cheating when it comes to the body’s natural processes? These are the types of questions that need to be answered when it comes to these new medical discoveries. “The root of the difficulties that the anti-doping campaign has to wrestle ...

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...ent that promotes healing, allows natural bodily functions and has limited side effects could reduce the amount of cheating in all areas of competitive sports as well as prolong the careers of promising athletes.

Works Cited

Møller, Verner. The Ethics of Doping and Anti-Doping: Redeeming the Soul of Sport?Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2009. Print.

Carr, Craig. Fairness and Performance Enhancement in Sports. Journal of the Philosophy of sport; 2008, Vol. 35 Issue 2, p193-207, 15p. Academic Search Premier. 29 May 2011.

McCann, Michael. “Bartolo Colon's Stem Cell Surgery: Sports Medicine or Cheating?” 12 May 2011. Web. 24 May 2011.

Pennington, B. (2007, Mar 29). For athletes, the next fountain of youth? New York Times, pp.

Academic Search Premier EBSCO. Web. 25 May 2011.

“The World Anti-Doping Code”. World Anti-Doping Agency. Web. 25may2011.

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