As of Monday, a Colorado-based company will begin offering a genetic test to help parents determine whether their child would be better suited to sprint or to run longer distances, says the NYT. Atlas Sports Genetics is offering this test for just $149 to parents who want to “match them with the right activity.”
Like most other direct-to-consumer genetic tests, the method is simple: swap Johnny or Jenny’s cheek to get some DNA and send it in to Atlas who will determine what variant of the ACTN3 gene they have–thus predicting their sports acumen for life.
Or perhaps that is just the fear–that children will be forced into particular kinds of activities, regardless of interest or desire, because their genes suggested to their parents that they would be better at field hockey rather than basketball. Just like any other predictive genetic test for disease or, now it would appear, for sport, there is the very real concern that children will not be allowed to grow up free of the burden of their genetic information. Instead, once the information is disclosed to them, they likely will feel that certain sports are just “not in their genes.”
But wouldn’t it be a shame to see Jenny never try to play basketball because she was told from a young age that her propensity would be for running long distances rather than sprinting, even though her heart longs to dribble and shoot? There are countless examples of unlikely athletes who made it to the top of their field–for one, let’s just ask who would have guessed a one-handed baseball pitcher would be successful in the major leagues?
In sport, genes, or even physical abilities, aren’t the only determining factor. Passion, desire, and hard-work often separate the good athletes from the great ones and those who just play around from those who want to succeed–and then do.
These genetic tests will certainly have a market among pre-Olympian parents, the crazy soccer mom or dad and other kinds of hyperactive parents wishing to ensure that their child succeeds in the “right” sport. Such control and determinism, however, is a horrible idea as it increases the pressure on children to perform to their genetic expectations and takes the passion out of sport.
Summer Johnson, PhD