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PERFORMANCE GENE DISCOVERED
To be a top athlete you need the right
genes. Sure, but until this year, no-one knew what those genes were.
Now one has been discovered. It's called the ACE gene, because it
codes for the enzyme that activates the hormone angiotensin--ACE is
short for angiotensin converting enzyme.
A group working in London knew that ACE is
active in muscle tissue, where it regulates blood flow, so they
figured it might have a role in endurance performance. They knew that
the gene comes in two forms--I (for insertion) and D (for
deletion)--so they did a study to find out if endurance athletes are
more likely to have one or other form. The athletes they chose were
elite mountaineers who could ascend above 7000 m without oxygen.
Bingo! The I form was much more prevalent amongst the mountaineers
than in the general population. What's more, the mountaineers who
could go to the highest altitudes without oxygen had two copies of
the I form (one from mom and one from dad). The researchers then
showed that the I form of the gene produced a greater response to
strength-endurance training in army recruits: after a 10-week
training program, time to exhaustion in a weighted elbow-flexion
exercise lasting 2 min increased by only 6% in the recruits with two
copies of the D form, by 21% in those with an I and a D, and by 66%
in those with two Is. The findings were published in the May 21 issue
of Nature (Montgomery et al., 1998). Two months later an Australian
group reported that the I form of the ACE gene was much more frequent
amongst elite rowers than in the general population (Gayagay et al.,
1998).
Ferret can think of several important
implications. First, athletes in endurance sports will show a better
response to training if they have two copies of the I form of the ACE
gene, so it won't be long before talent identification includes DNA
testing. Will that be any different from selecting on the basis of
maximum oxygen uptake? Secondly, other genes predictive of athletic
potential will soon be discovered, but no gene will ever substitute
for hard training, good coaching, and good sport-science support.
Finally, sport scientists doing training studies with endurance
athletes should think seriously about getting their subjects DNA
tested, because the presence of the I form will help explain
individual differences in the response to training.
Gayagay, G., Yu, B., Hambly, B., et al. (1998). Elite
endurance athletes and the ACE I allele - the role of genes in
athletic performance. Human Genetics, 103, 48-50.
Montgomery, H. E., Marshall, R., Hemingway, H., et
al. (1998). Human gene for physical performance. Nature, 393,
221-222.
For another aspect of the impact of genes on sport
performance, see the item on African
genes in the July-August issue of Ferret.
Contributed by Will
Hopkins.
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