An Olympic Games For Enhanced Athletes? 245
ananyo writes "With the Olympics due to kick off on 27 July in London, Nature has taken a look at how far science would be able to push human athletic abilities if all restrictions on doping were lifted. The article mentions anabolic steroids (up to 38% increase in strength), IGF-1 (4% increase in sprinting capacity), EPO/blood doping (34% increase in stamina), gene doping and various drugs and supplements, as well as more 'extreme' measures such as surgery and prosthesis. Hugh Herr, a biomechanical engineer at MIT, says performance-enhancing technologies will one day demand an Olympics all their own. But is that time already upon us?"
Sponsored by Pfizer (Score:5, Funny)
And then we won't have athletes representing countries any more, but drug companies.
"Well, GlaxoSmithKline are looking great, taking home four gold medals, two silvers and five bronzes so far. This is sure to push their stock price up substantially for the coming year."
Did not RTFA.
Re:What for? (Score:4, Funny)
Sport is when you go out and do it, not when you watch in from behind that bucket of potato chips or popcorn. Well, at least in my world.
You seem to have wandered into the foreign territory of slashdot, where exercise is climbing the stairs from mom's basement to raid the fridge.
A matter of time (Score:2, Funny)
I can't wait for the one man three legged race.
Re:What for? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Prior Art (Score:5, Funny)
Olympic-games-for-enhanced-athletes aka "Tour de France".
Re:Prior Art (Score:4, Funny)
When you start adding in drugs, you won't get any ceilings, no responsible use. Once people start bulking up, they often don't stop.
Yes, here [youtube.com] is a very good example of someone who started out as a skinny teenager then let the "bulking up" get *way* out of control...