U.S. colleges and universities for the first time are requiring top student athletes to submit to testing for the gene for sickle cell anemia, a mandate aimed at preventing sudden deaths of promising young players but stirring deep fears about reviving dangerous old prejudices.
The screening hopes to identify athletes at high risk for life-threatening complications from intense physical exertion. That way, those with the gene could be monitored more closely and their training could be modified by, for example, allowing more time for rest and drinking more water. […]
The testing is being watched closely as a case study in both the potential benefits and risks of large-scale modern genetic screening, which is proliferating as the genetic bases for more and more diseases are being deciphered.
“This could be a tip of an iceberg of genetic screening as we go forward,” said Vence L. Bonham of the National Institutes of Health’s National Human Genome Research Institute. “Getting it right is important, especially this one being the first one out of the gate.” […]
The National Collegiate Athletic Association mandated the testing in April in response to a lawsuit filed by the family of Dale Lloyd II, a 19-year-old African American freshman at Rice University who died after an intense football workout in 2006 and was later discovered to have had the sickle cell trait.
“We want to prevent this from happening to anyone else,” said Lloyd’s mother, Bridgette Lloyd of Houston. “Coaches and trainers need this knowledge. We don’t want another young person to lose their life because of a lack of information.”
Read the full story at the Washington Post.
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