1st Edition

Genetically Modified Athletes Biomedical Ethics, Gene Doping and Sport

By Andy Miah Copyright 2004
    228 Pages
    by Routledge

    232 Pages
    by Routledge

    In a provocative analysis of sport ethics and human values, Genetically Modified Athletes imagines the brave new world of sport. The internationally acclaimed book examines this issue at a crucial time in its theorisation, questioning the very cornerstone of sporting and medical ethics, asking whether sporting authorities can, or even should, protect sport from genetic modification.

    This book brings together sport studies and bioethics to challenge our understanding of the values that define sport. We already allow that athletes can optimise their performance by the use of technologies; without wishing to assert that 'anything goes' in sports performance enhancement, Andy Miah argues that simply being human matters in sport and that genetic modification does not have to challenge this capacity.

    Genetically Modifies Athletes includes examination of:

    * the concept of 'good sport' and the definition of cheating
    * the doped athlete - should we be more sympathetic?
    * the role of the medical industry
    * the usefulness (or not) of the terms 'doping' and 'anti-doping'.

    An important and growing field of interest, this book should be read by students, academics and practitioners.

    Introduction 1. The beginning of genetic-doping Section 1: Anti-Doping and Performance Enhancement 2. A critical approach to anti-doping policy 3. Are there any drugs that should be legal? Section 2: From Drugs to Genes: Conceptual Links and Differences 4. The current state of play: likely applications of genetic modification for sport 5. Avoiding genetic-doping 6. The gene story in sport - mapping the interests 7. An ethical foundation fo GM-policy: bioethics and sports ethics Section 3: The Moral Status of genetic Modification in Sport 8. Therapy and enhancement - which is more alarming? 9. The case for genetic enhancement in sport: Cities, Altius, Fortius 10. The case against genetic enhancement in sport: athletic virtues and medical ethics Section 4: Re-defining ethical approaches to performance enhancement in sport 11. A view from somewhere: sports ethics and fair play 12. Reinventing value in sport - all too (super) human Section 5: Human Rights and Legal Implications 13. Pragmatic concerns: human rights for the genetically modified 14. GM sport and the law 15. The end of anti-doping.

    Biography

    Thomas H. Murray; Andy Miah

    'Always scholarly and well researched, this book had me turning pages at the rate I normally reserve for a good novel ... This book not only added to my knowledge ... but it also changed some of my attitudes to doping in sport and genetical modification ... [Miah's] book should be compulsory reading on all Sports Medicine courses because it will promote debate, challenge consensus and make people think.' - Professor Andy Smith, BASEM Today

    'Miah's book is a thought-provoking read that raises important questions about sport and society. It is a truly boundary-crossing piece of work, one within which students and scholars in a number of disciplines, from sociology and law to sports studies, will find much material to mine.' - Guy Osborn, Times Higher Educational Supplement, August 2005

    'Genetically Modified Athletes ... will play a vital role in future debates regarding both the ethics of genetic manipulation and, more generally, of doping and performance enhancement. The book should be read and considered carefully by scholars in sports studies, bioethicists, sport-policy makes, coaches, administrators, journalists and, perhaps most importantly, athletes.' Ian Ritchie, Sociology of Sport Journal, No. 22, 2005