As science progresses so does our power to change the world around us. Medical and biotechnological advances have not only increased our life expectancy, but also our aggregate quality of life. Our ability to modify our genetic make-up no doubt will contribute to our increasing quality of life, perhaps as much as the discovery of penicillin increased life expectancy. But this technology will have consequences in the sporting arena also.
The following is a brief excerpt of an interview with Professor Michael J. Sandel, the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University. The interview is published on Ethics Bites in association with Open University.
Sport and Genetic Enhancement
"As far as sports are concerned we hear a lot about blood doping and the use of steroids for performance enhancement in athletes and in the not distant future it will be possible to use various forms of gene therapy, for example, to enhance muscle and that I think is what in the area of sport will raise the most difficult questions."
Read the full transcript of the interview here
Download the MP3 file of the interview from here
This information was sourced from Nigel Walburton and David Edmonds' blogsite Philosophy Bites.
