Direct-to-consumer genetic testing for predicting sports performance and talent identification: Consensus statement

Nick Webborn¹, Alun Williams², Mike McNamee³, Claude Bouchard⁴, Yannis Pitsiladis⁵, Ildus Ahmetov⁶, Euan Ashley⁷, Nuala Byrne⁸, Silvia Camporesi⁹, Malcolm Collins¹⁰, Paul Dijkstra¹¹, Nir Eynon¹², Noriyuki Fuku¹³, Fleur C Garton¹⁴, Nils Hoppe¹⁵, Søren Holm¹⁶, Jane Kaye¹⁷, Vassilis Klissouras¹⁸, Alejandro Lucia¹⁹, Kamiel Maase²⁰, Colin Moran²¹, Kathryn N North¹⁴, Fabio Pigozzi²², Guan Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Sport and Exercise Science and Medicine (SESAME), University of Brighton, Eastbourne, UK.
² MMU Sports Genomics Laboratory, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, Crewe, UK.
³ College of Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.
⁴ Human Genomics Laboratory, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, USA.
⁵ FIMS Reference Collaborating Centre of Sports Medicine for Anti-Doping Research, University of Brighton, Eastbourne, UK.
⁶ Volga Region State Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism, Kazan, Russia.
⁷ Clinical Genomics Service, Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.
⁸ Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine, Bond Institute of Health and Sport, Gold Coast, Australia.
⁹ Department of Social Science, Health & Medicine, King's College London, London, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
¹¹ Aspetar-Qatar Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Hospital, Doha, Qatar.
¹² Institute of Sport, Exercise, and Active Living (ISEAL), Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
¹³ Graduate School of Health and Sports Science, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁴ Department of Paediatrics, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, University of Melbourne, Royal Children's Hospital, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁵ Coram Chambers, London, UK.
¹⁶ School of Law, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
¹⁷ Nuffield Department of Population Health, Centre for Health, Law and Emerging Technologies, University of Oxford, Headington, UK.
¹⁸ Emeritus of Ergophysiology, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
¹⁹ Universidad Europea and Research Institute i+12, Madrid, Spain.
²⁰ Elite Sport Unit, Netherlands Olympic Committee * Netherlands Sports Confederation (NOC*NSF), Utrecht, The Netherlands.
²¹ Physiological Epigenetics Research Group, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
²² International Federation of Sports Medicine, University of Rome, Rome, Italy.

PMID: 26582191
PMCID: PMC4680136
DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-095343

Direct-to-consumer genetic testing for predicting sports performance and talent identification: Consensus statement

Nick Webborn et al. Br J Sports Med. 2015 Dec.

. 2015 Dec;49(23):1486-91.

doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-095343.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Sport and Exercise Science and Medicine (SESAME), University of Brighton, Eastbourne, UK.
² MMU Sports Genomics Laboratory, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, Crewe, UK.
³ College of Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.
⁴ Human Genomics Laboratory, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, USA.
⁵ FIMS Reference Collaborating Centre of Sports Medicine for Anti-Doping Research, University of Brighton, Eastbourne, UK.
⁶ Volga Region State Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism, Kazan, Russia.
⁷ Clinical Genomics Service, Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.
⁸ Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine, Bond Institute of Health and Sport, Gold Coast, Australia.
⁹ Department of Social Science, Health & Medicine, King's College London, London, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
¹¹ Aspetar-Qatar Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Hospital, Doha, Qatar.
¹² Institute of Sport, Exercise, and Active Living (ISEAL), Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
¹³ Graduate School of Health and Sports Science, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁴ Department of Paediatrics, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, University of Melbourne, Royal Children's Hospital, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁵ Coram Chambers, London, UK.
¹⁶ School of Law, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
¹⁷ Nuffield Department of Population Health, Centre for Health, Law and Emerging Technologies, University of Oxford, Headington, UK.
¹⁸ Emeritus of Ergophysiology, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
¹⁹ Universidad Europea and Research Institute i+12, Madrid, Spain.
²⁰ Elite Sport Unit, Netherlands Olympic Committee * Netherlands Sports Confederation (NOC*NSF), Utrecht, The Netherlands.
²¹ Physiological Epigenetics Research Group, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
²² International Federation of Sports Medicine, University of Rome, Rome, Italy.

PMID: 26582191
PMCID: PMC4680136
DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-095343

Abstract

The general consensus among sport and exercise genetics researchers is that genetic tests have no role to play in talent identification or the individualised prescription of training to maximise performance. Despite the lack of evidence, recent years have witnessed the rise of an emerging market of direct-to-consumer marketing (DTC) tests that claim to be able to identify children's athletic talents. Targeted consumers include mainly coaches and parents. There is concern among the scientific community that the current level of knowledge is being misrepresented for commercial purposes. There remains a lack of universally accepted guidelines and legislation for DTC testing in relation to all forms of genetic testing and not just for talent identification. There is concern over the lack of clarity of information over which specific genes or variants are being tested and the almost universal lack of appropriate genetic counselling for the interpretation of the genetic data to consumers. Furthermore independent studies have identified issues relating to quality control by DTC laboratories with different results being reported from samples from the same individual. Consequently, in the current state of knowledge, no child or young athlete should be exposed to DTC genetic testing to define or alter training or for talent identification aimed at selecting gifted children or adolescents. Large scale collaborative projects, may help to develop a stronger scientific foundation on these issues in the future.

Keywords: Consensus statement.

Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

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References

1. Aymé S, Gribaldo L, Matthijs G, et al. . European workshop on genetic testing offer in Europe. Publications Office of the European Union. Ispra, Italy, 2013.
1. Human Genetics Commission. A common framework of principles for direct-to-consumer genetic testing services. London Hum Genet Comm 2010;1–4. http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&btnG=Search&q=intitle:A+Common+F...
1. American College of Medicine Genetics Board of Directors. ACMG statement on direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Genet Med 2004;6:60. - PubMed
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1. Wetterstrand K. DNA Sequencing Costs: Data from the NHGRI Genome Sequencing Program (GSP). http://www.genome.gov/sequencingcosts (accessed 15 Jul 2015).

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Direct-to-consumer genetic testing for predicting sports performance and talent identification: Consensus statement

Affiliations

Direct-to-consumer genetic testing for predicting sports performance and talent identification: Consensus statement

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources

Medical