Genetic Therapy is a procedure used to help treat disease, or make their side affects less intense. To do this, a gene is inserted into the patient's DNA which stimulates different aspects helpful to get through diseases. For example, a patient with a disease such as
muscular dystrophy (a disease that causes muscle weakness and deterioration) could insert a gene that activates muscle growth throughout their body, helping them lessen the side affects of this disease. Recently, the same procedures have been used to make healthy people's muscles grow as well. Used mostly in sports, this Genetic Doping uses this genetic modification to get an edge over their opponents. This helps athletes to have a higher chance of doing well in high-level athletic competitions, such as the Olympics, but there are also many side affects and uncertainties that come along with genetic doping as well. Whether or not this should be allowed throughout the sports world causes huge controversy. Many athletes believe this would help even the playing field throughout all athletes, while others (For example WADA - World Anti Doping Agency) think the risks outweigh the rewards and it should therefore be banned. Either way, due to genetic doping and the increasing popularity of genetically modifying athletes to gain fitness levels are inevitably going to change sports culture.
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