Half a century of challenges

“The appearance of new potential doping substances has often been accompanied by comments suggesting that they would be impossible to detect at doping controls … And now we hear the same comments with respect to the potential use of gene transfer for the purpose of doping (‘gene doping’). Such comments are too often made by scientists who are not experts in the field, but their statements are taken by the general public as expert opinions.” In 1961 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) created a Medical Commission (IOC–MC) at its 59th Session in Athens, Greece. The decision was triggered by the...