Table 3.
Timeline of genetic testing in sports
| Sl no. | Year | Country | Sport | Sports association | Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2001 | Australia | Boxing | Professional Boxing and Martial Arts Board of Victoria | Compulsory genetic screening for APOE4 [75] |
| 2 | 2005 | Australia | Rugby | Sea Eagles (professional Rugby team based in Manly, Sydney) | Tested 18 of 24 players for 11 exercise-related genes [76] |
| 3 | 2005 | USA | Basketball | Chicago Bulls | Eddie Curry asked to undergo DNA test for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy [77] |
| 4 | 2009 | USA | American Football | National Football League (NFL) | DNA samples analysed from NFL linesmen—current and former [78] |
| 5 | 2009 | USA | Baseball | Major League Baseball | DNA tested for a prospective player from the Dominican Republic [79] |
| 6 | 2010 | USA | Athletics | National Collegiate Athletic Association | Mandatory sickle cell trait screening introduced after lawsuit [80] |
| 7 | 2011 | United Kingdom | Soccer | English Premier League | Players’ DNA samples analysed at 100 genetic loci linked to performance and risk of injuries [81] |
| 8 | 2011 | USA | American Football | National Football League (NFL) | Sickle cell trait and G6PD screened under the 2011 NFL collective bargaining agreement [82] |
| 9 | 2012 | United Kingdom | Athletics | English Institute of Sport | Considers genetic testing to assess injury risk in England’s Olympic and Paralympics athletes [83] |
| 10 | 2014 | United Kingdom | Soccer | Barclays Premier League | Tested DNA for 45 variants in 2 teams to adapt individual training programmes and prevent injuries [84] |
| 11 | 2015 | Uzbekistan | Various (swimming, soccer, rowing, etc.) | National Olympic Committee | Test for 50 gene variants to identify future champion athletes at the molecular level [85] |
| 12 | 2018 | China | Various | Ministry of Science and Technology/Chinese Academy of Sciences | Announces complete genome sequencing to identify athletes for Olympic Winter games 2022 to be held in Beijing [86] |