On Sports And Genes
Our genes influence our athletic ability. However, the causal genetic factors and mechanisms, and the extent of their effects, remain largely elusive. Many studies investigate this association between specific genes and athletic performance. Such studies have increased in number over
the past few years, as recent developments and patents in DNA sequencing have made large amounts of sequencing data available for such analysis. In this paper, we consider four of the most intensively studied genes in relation to athletic ability: angiotensin I-converting enzyme, alpha-actinin
3, peroxismose proliferator-activator receptor alpha and nitric oxide synthase 3. We investigate the connection between genotype and athletic phenotype in the context of these four genes in various sport fields and across different ethnicities and genders. We do an extensive literature survey
on these genes and the polymorphisms (single nucleotide polymorphisms or indels) found to be associated with athletic performance. We also present, for each of these polymorphisms, the allele frequencies in the different ethnicities reported in the pilot phase of the 1000 Genomes Project –
arguably the largest human genome-sequencing endeavor to date. We discuss the considerable success, and significant drawbacks, of past research along these lines, and propose interesting directions for future research.
Keywords: Alphaactinin 3; Athletic performance; Nitric Oxide Synthase 3; Peroxismose proliferator-activator receptor alpha; angiotensin I-converting enzyme; elite athletes; genomic polymorphisms; genomics
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 December 2012
- Recent Patents on DNA and Gene Sequences publishes review articles by experts on recent patents on DNA and gene sequences. A selection of important and recent patents in the field is also included in the journal. The journal is essential reading for all researchers involved in applied molecular biology.
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