Gene Test to See Athletic Potential

Believe it or not, a mail-order genetic test kit can tell you if your child has the potential to become a top athlete. But doctors are skeptical about the reliability and ethics of genetically testing young children for future athletic potential.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

The makers of a genetic test claim their test which costs less than 200 U.S. dollars can tell people if their children have athletic potential.

Some customers say the test results are helping them steer their children to the sports that are the most appropriate for them.

But skeptical doctors and ethicists say the tests are putting profit before science and have a much higher price tag-potentially robbing perfectly capable youngsters of a chance to enjoy activities of their choice.

Nine-year-old Elizabeth Marston is crazy about soccer and clearly has a talent for the sport. Her parents had her tested. They want to know if she has a type of gene called ACTN3 which influences the production of a protein involved in certain muscle activity.

Marston's test indicates she has a sprint-related type of gene-a result her father hopes will help her get into an elite sports program or win her a college scholarship.

The ACTN3 test sold by Atlas Sports Genetics costs 169 U.S. dollars and consists of two swabs to scrape cells from the inside of the cheek. After the swabs are taken, the samples are mailed to the company for processing. Product users can expect to receive the results within weeks.

Nat Carruthers, Operations President for Atlas Sports Genetics, says the company has sold several hundreds of test kits since it began marketing them in 2008. He says critics have misrepresented the test.

"It's been misconstrued to say that this explains how good you're going to be or that you can be the next Olympic athlete-the next Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps. But it's not. It kind of illuminates a bit of a darker path on understanding what your body is going to be capable of as you mature and go through life."

University of Maryland researcher Stephen Roth is a specialist in exercise physiology and genetics and has studied the ACTN3 gene. He says the science of how genes influence athletic ability "is in its infancy," and that market claims are based on "gross assumptions."

Dr. Roth says roughly 80 percent of people worldwide have the ACTN3 gene that has been linked with explosive force.

The fact that so few of these people become elite athletes underscores that it takes much more than genes to make a top sports star.

But even people who don't produce the protein can become elite athletes. Roth cites the example of a Spanish distance jumper who made it to the Olympics.

"Parents should not pursue this test. It is a single gene that they're testing for athletic performance, which is arguably one of the more complex traits. It's going to be governed by many genes and many different factors."

Roth says ethically, doctors worry that most children are too young to make an educated, informed decision about whether to take the test and don't have the capacity to properly process any negative results.

"The hazard is that parents will use it to change what their children are doing."

But Bradley Marston sees the test as just one tool to help him be a better informed parent who can gently encourage his daughter in areas where she is more likely to succeed.

"Does it mean whether they have the gene or not that their ability to succeed will happen? Not necessarily. I believe that if any child is nurtured with positive influence, with uplifting, 'You can do it. You can do it,' that's the most critical step we can take with raising our children."

For CRI, I am Li Dong.