<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/3537084/DNA-test-predicts-childs-athletic-strengths.html>DNA test predicts child's athletic strengths A Colorado company is offering US parents focused on sporting excellence in their children a special DNA test designed to help determine a child's athletic strengths. By Our foreign staff Last Updated: 10:23PM GMT 30 Nov 2008 Atlas Sports Genetics, based in Boulder, says its £100 pound ($149) test will predict whether a child's natural abilities tend towards speed and power sports, such as football or sprinting, or endurance sports like long-distance running or a combination of the two. The test, which has been available since 2004 from an Australian company, Genetic Technologies, checks to see which variants a child carries of the gene ACTN3. According to the company's website, the presence, or absence, of different variants can indicate what sort of athlete the child could become. The testing follows a 2003 scientific study identifying the link between ACTN3 and elite athletic ability. "Finding any great Olympic athlete normally takes years to determine," the Atlas Sports Genetics website states alongside a picture of young children in football strips. "What if we knew a part of the answer when we were born? "Knowing what a person is born with can ensure they develop into the best athlete they can be." The test is done on DNA collected by swabbing the inside a child's cheek and results take about four weeks. The company offers different types of test including one that can be used on children from the age of one, the Atlas First, a product "geared specifically at the youngest of athletes". Some, however, are concerned the results could encourage parents, mindful of the college scholarships and other rewards that can accompany exceptional sporting ability, to force their children to specialise too early or train too hard. "I find it worrisome because I don't think parents will be very clear-minded about this," William Morgan, author of Why Sports Morally Matter, told the New York Times. "This just contributes to the madness about sports because there are some parents who will just go nuts over the results." Some experts, meanwhile, say far more research on ACTN3 needs to be done and the results provide only part of the picture as many more genes play a role in determining athletic performance. Kevin Reilly, president of Atlas Sports Genetics, told the New York Times he expected the test could prove controversial but stressed it was just one among a number tools to help children achieve their athletic potential. "Based on the test of a five-year-old or a newborn, you are not going to see if you have the next Michael Johnson; that's just not going to happen," Mr Reilly told the New York Times. "But if you wait until high school or college to find out if you have a good athlete on your hands, by then it will be too late. We need to identify these kids from one and up, so we can give the parents some guidelines on where to go from there." Christmas Postage from HolyPostage.com <*}}}>< <http://www.holypostage.com/>Holy Postage <*}}}>< <*}}}><<http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the Kingdom!<*}}}>< <http://holypostage.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=37> Christmas Postage from HolyPostage.com <*}}}>< <http://www.holypostage.com/>Holy Postage <*}}}>< <*}}}><<http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the Kingdom!<*}}}>< --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Please note that I do not send or open attachments sent to this list. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Catholics on Fire" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Catholics-on-Fire May the blessing of Jesus and our Blessed Mother be with you -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
