International Cooperation and Regulation: The Banbury Workshop (2002)

Publisher Summary The growing concern that gene transfer technology was becoming a potential threat to sports led to a workshop sponsored by the world anti-doping agency (WADA) at the banbury center of the cold spring harbor laboratory on long island in march 2002 to catalyze a discussion among the disparate communities who had not previously come together to identify and discuss the issues posed by the impending possibility of gene-based doping in sports. The format of the meeting included scientific summaries of the general principles of gene transfer, the scientific approaches to gene transfer in general and the status of clinical gene therapy applications, as well as the legal, ethical, and public policy aspects of gene transfer for the enhancement of sports-related human traits. The banbury workshop focuses on sport where talent and genetic manipulation collide. The opening session at the meeting was devoted to summaries of the nature of the doping threat to sport, an athlete's perspective on the extent and depth of the problem, a summary of the present methods for testing and monitoring, and a review of the principles and concepts underlying gene therapy as an impending new approach to doping. The summary of the banbury conference conclusions are also presented in this chapter.