1123rd General Monthly Meeting
Science and Sport
The 1123rd March General Meeting was a combined meeting with Powerhouse Members held at 4:00 pm on Saturday 27th March, 2004 at the Powerhouse Museum. The theme was `Science and Sport' and was timed to coincide with the Powerhouse Museum's excellent "Sport" exhibition. Around 60 people attended the lectures.
The speakers for the meeting were Prof. Kathryn North of the Children's Medical Research Institute and Dr Graham Trout, Deputy Director of the Australian Sports Drug Testing Laboratories. The Director of the Drug Testing Laboratories, Dr Ray Kazlauskas also kindly agreed to attend and offered to field any questions.
Date: Saturday, 27th March, 2004
Time: 4:00 pm
Venue: Powerhouse Museum,
Genes in Sport
Prof. Kathryn NorthThe elite athlete represents a highly complex phenotype, which reflects training, the desire to win and, perhaps most importantly, the individual's genetic makeup. Variables such as the force-generating capacity of muscle fibres at high velocity, VO2max, anaerobic threshold, and the capacity of the individual to adapt to exercise training are all strongly genetically influenced, but the genes responsible have been unknown.
We have recently demonstrated that the skeletal muscle protein, α-actinin-3, is absent in 18% of healthy Caucasians due to a genetic variation that is common in the general population. α-Actinin-3 is specifically expressed in fast-twitch myofibers responsible for generating force in sprint and power activities. We hypothesized that this common variation in the α-actinin-3 gene may be one of the factors that influence normal variation in muscle function, and studied α-actinin-3 gene variations in elite athletes (n=429). Remarkably, all the sprint/power athletes had similar genotypic profiles with an extremely low frequency of α-actinin-3 deficiency compared to controls. This effect was more marked in females and in sprint/power Olympians, none of whom were deficient in α-actinin-3. In contrast, elite endurance athletes had higher frequencies of α-actinin-3 deficiency compared to controls.
At the population level, our findings suggest that the presence or absence of α-actinin-3 contribute towards an individual's inherent predisposition towards being a 'sprinter' or a 'stayer'. In the world of sport, this finding supports what athletic coaches have always suspected - that some sportsmen and women are born to be power performers and others are destined to be stamina specialists. With identical training regimes, their muscular structures, encoded with variations of the one gene, point them to different pursuits on the athletic arena. There are likely to be many genes that contribute to athletic performance and it will be combinations of genes, rather than any one genetic variation, that make an Olympic champion. Knowledge about genes that influence normal muscle performance may provide the key to treating diseases that result in muscle weakness. However the identification of genes that influence athletic performance raises a number of important ethical issues about how this information is used in the selection or training of athletes in a competitive environment.
Drugs in Sport - The Race to Win: What? Why? Who and When?
Dr Graham TroutSport is an integral part of the lives of many individuals, either as a form of entertainment or as an activity, for one of many reasons, including fitness. Sport is a huge industry on a national and international level. The desire to win, to be famous and popular, has driven some athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs.
The use of such drugs is associated with significant health risks and raises serious questions about ethics and fair play. A major deterrent is the conduct of drug testing. The current Olympic Movement Anti-doping Code defines three fundamental principles, namely: "Protecting the health of athletes; Respect for both medical and sports ethics; and Equality for all competing athletes".
The Australian Sports Drug Testing Laboratory, ASDTL, part of the Australian Government Analytical Laboratories, AGAL, has held the onerous responsibility for analysis of all Australian athletes' samples since 1989, including a highly successful program during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The Laboratory has been accredited by the International Olympic Committee since 1990 and, as of 2004, by the World Anti-doping Agency.
Prof. Kathryn North is Head of the Neurogenetics Research Unit at the Children's Hospital at Westmead and Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health in the University of Sydney's Faculty of Medicine.
Dr Graham Trout is the Deputy Director of the Australian Sports Drug Testing Laboratory, who has been intimately involved in the research of drug detection and in the development of a strong internationally accepted sports drug testing facility. He will speak on some interesting current chemical and analytical aspects of performance enhancing drugs and doping in sport and demonstrate the successes and difficulties within this very important part of sport. The ASDTL has been accredited by the International Olympic Committee since 1990 and, as of 2004, by the World Anti-doping Agency.
Report on the General Monthly Meeting
The title of Prof. Kathryn North's talk was: `Genes in Sport' in which Professor North explored the question of the extent that genes affect sporting performance and which genes help to make a champion. In a most entertaining talk, Professor North told us the tale of the gene for α-actinin-3. At first the team thought they'd found a disease gene associated with muscle problems (Prof. North's main area of research). But this turned out not to be the case. α-actinin-3 is expressed by fast-twitch fibres in the muscles responsible for generating force in sprint and power activities. Studies carried out across different populations revealed quite different proportions of the gene. In the general Caucasian population the gene is absent in 18% of people. Yet in the top female sprint/power athletes and all the sprint/power Olympians tested none were deficient in the gene. Perhaps the greatest surprise came when the team tested endurance athletes and found a higher level of deficiency of the gene than in the general population. One might speculate that the absence of the gene makes one better equipped for endurance activities. Interestingly, Professor North has also tested primates of several kinds where she has found no deficiency of this ancient gene. It appears that this gene mutation unique to human beings (an absence of the gene for α-actinin-3) arose about 2 million years ago. For it to have survived for so long within the human population suggests that it has a valid use in survival. Could it be that it helped early man to run down his prey through greater endurance?
Following this Dr Trout gave an entertaining and informative talk. Sport is a huge industry on a national and international level. The desire to win, to be famous and wealthy, has driven some athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs. Many of these drugs pose significant health risks and undermine the assumption of fair play in sport. Getting caught and eliminated from competition in disgrace is a major deterrent. So, random drug testing is now part of an elite athlete's routine. The current Olympic Movement Anti-doping Code defines three fundamental principles, namely: "Protecting the health of athletes; Respect for both medical and sports ethics; and Equality for all competing athletes". Dr Trout used an entertaining Powerpoint presentation to enlighten us on the complexities of testing athletes some of whom will take anything they believe will enhance their performance. He also showed us the bottles used to take samples and their ingenious tamper-proof system.