Since the beginning of time, natural selection determined those who lives and those who died. It’s in our genes to try and outdo one another, with the hopes that we will live long enough to reproduce and pass on our genes. In a world where everyone wants to be the best, new scientific discoveries has helped humanity to achieve a greater goal. In more modern terms, these new advancements can help us to change our physical appearance as well as live longer and healthier lives. But before science has significantly improved the standards of living, there were the weak ones, those who were born with something amiss. They used to bear the consequences of having a missing or defective gene, but nowadays, such a person can be treated with gene therapy, which involves replacing a defective gene with a healthy one. A specific type of gene therapy, gene doping, is used to change one’s DNA for the purposes of increasing their athletic abilities. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) defines gene doping as the …show more content…
While gene therapy offers a solution for curing those who are seriously sick, it can also be misused through gene doping. As of 2003, the WADA prohibited gene doping. Considering the fact that gene doping poses a possible health risk and that the fundamental moral proposition lies on safeguarding individuals against harm, it is immoral to allow gene doping. Furthermore, gene doping compromises the integrity of the sport, and although ethics regarding sports are ambiguous and immeasurable, gene doping still gives the athlete an unfair advantage. The athletes are no longer equals, and the idea of competition becomes irrelevant. While competitions measure one’s efforts and talents, the method by which athletes enhance their performance will corrupt the essence of the sport. Sports will no longer test the athlete’s abilities but rather the achievements of science (Haisma and Hon,