Genetic Tests of Athletic Prowess — For Babies

[Mrs. Sharon B. Hodge]

Genetic Tests of Athletic Prowess — For Babies
by Brandon Keim


A new genetic test offers to predict the sports at which a baby will someday excel. But even if the science were sound — it's not — this might not be a good idea.

The $150 test, offered by Colorado-based Atlas Sports Genetics, looks at ACTN3, a gene that codes for fast-twitch muscle fiber. People with lots of fast-twitching muscle are ostensibly suited for "burst" sports like football or sprinting. Those with slow-twitch muscles ought to be better at endurance sports.

"Finding any great Olympic athlete normally takes years to determine," proclaims the company's website. "What if we knew a part of the answer when we were born?"

But sporting achievement isn't that simple. Theodore Friedmann, a University of California-San Diego gene therapist, told the New York Times that the test was "an opportunity to sell new versions of snake oil."

Hundreds of genes have been implicated in athletic success. ACTN3 is just one of these. (Sure, Jamaicans have disproportionately high levels of ACTN3 — but if that explains their Olympic dominance in 2008, what about their poor showing in 2004?)
These genes have yet to be connected with those other, equally important predictors of success, which go by the unscientific names of "heart" and "smarts." A perfect example is Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia: slow, small, weak and fabulously successful.

"This kid can't run. He's not very strong. He's 5'4", or whatever he is on a good day.

He doesn't have much fast twitch. He's just a ballplayer," said his college baseball coach, Pat Murphy, in a Boston Globe story on Pedroia's winning the American League's Most Valuable Player Award.

But even if ACTN3 testing was completely accurate, able to predict athletic success before a baby had graduated from bottle-feeding to Gatorade, would it be desirable?

Becoming a professional athlete is only a little more realistic than becoming a rock star. Which isn't to say people shouldn't strive — but reaching the pinnacle is less important than the process itself.

The benefits of childhood sports take many forms: how to be a good teammate.

Learning to perform under pressure. The satisfaction and self-confidence of overcoming adversity. The value of practice and self-discipline. Most important of all is simple fun. If a child doesn't enjoy a sport, he or she should do something else.

Reading about the Atlas Sports Genetics test reminded me of a conversation I overheard last year at a local coffee shop. Two new parents were talking with a friend about what sport their baby boy would play. Basketball and football were out of the question, dad said: he'd never be big enough to succeed. The friend suggested tennis, but mom said that traveling across the country for high-level tournaments was too expensive.

The parents seemed like nice, thoughtful and genuinely supportive people. It just hadn't occurred to them that their son might be fine picking a sport he liked, and playing it for fun.