{Genetically Engineering Athletes???}

Myostatin deficient cow

 I cannot believe that we are getting to the point in technology where we can alter a person to have the exact traits that we want as described in the article from SportsIllustrated.com titled, “Steroids in America: The Future” by David Epstein.  While I do think that genetic engineering can be very useful for curing diseasing and improving health conditions, I do not think it should be used beyond that. I think by tampering with genetics too much, we are almost “playing God” and it is not ethically right to change the cards we were dealt. We were created the way we are for a reason, and trying to have too much control over that is unhealthy.

If we all got to choose exactly what traits we wanted to possess, what real value would natural ability have anymore? We could not watch a sporting event without questioning the integrity of the genetics of the players. How weird is that?

If sports do ban genetically altered players from participating, they would have to make sure to have no exceptions to make it fair for all players, even if they did not have the genetic changes for athletic reasons. This may seem harsh, but it would be the only way to level the playing field and keep the integrity of sports.