What Role Does Genetics Play in an Athlete's Ability to Perform?

What Is Genetics?

Genetics is the study of genetic material, genetic variation, and heredity. The word "genetics" is derived from the Greek word "gene," which means "to create." Genetics deals with studying how various characteristics are in parents and their offspring. It encodes genetic information, which is passed down through each generation. In this manner, various characteristics are defined for an individual. The role of genetics in athletes' physiology and its effect on their performance has been of great interest to researchers in recent years. It has been speculated that genetics contributes to sports performance in athletes.

How Is Athletic Ability Linked to Genetics?

Genetics has a considerable role in sports performance and endurance. The genes inherited from the parents are sometimes associated with determining prospective performance in athletes. Genetic testing has also been used for athletes to preselect their sports based on the type of genes they have inherited from their parents. Genes can influence talents to some extent, from sprinters who can grow more fast-twitch muscle fibers to endurance runners whose muscular contraction rates are governed by heredity.

Although there is a false presumption about the entire cause of improved sports performance in athletes, studies have shown that only 10 % of the performance can be attributed to genetic or inherited factors. Higher performance amalgamates other strong contributing factors like training, diet, and genetics. Listed below are some other furnishing elements that affect an athlete’s performance:

• Training: The more training an athlete does, the better they will be able to perform.

• Diet: A diet with enough nutrients and calories will help athletes recover from exercise faster and improve their performance.

• Environment: An environment with good sunlight can help athletes produce more vitamin D, improving athletic performance.

• Motivation: Athletes who are motivated will have more drive and determination than those who are not.

How Does Genetics Influence Sports Performance?

Endurance Performance: The capacity to use oxygen to produce energy or aerobic metabolism is linked to the capability to engage in endurance activity. Some of these are the percentage of slow-twitch fibers in skeletal muscle and elements like maximal cardiac output, which determine the maximum oxygen consumption rate (VO2 max). Studies have revealed that while VO2 max and aerobic power also have large heritability, some of the 40–50 % variations in the number of slow-twitch fibers in human muscles appear to be genetically determined.

Power Performance: Power or sprint-based exercises depend on the skeletal muscles' ability to produce power quickly, a function that is heavily impacted by heredity. For example, the myostatin gene (MSTN). The MSTN RR variant is more prevalent in top-level endurance athletes than in their national-level counterparts. This gene's sequence changes have been identified as a genetic variation that may affect skeletal muscle phenotypes.

What Can Coxsackie Cause Pink Eyes?

The Coxsackie virus is present inside the human digestive system and is a member of enterovirus, including poliovirus and hepatitis A virus. The viruses can travel from person to person and are typically transmitted via unwashed hands and feces-contaminated surfaces, where they can survive for several days. Conjunctivitis (inflammation of the eyelid), also called pink eye, is contagious and characterized by red eye and swollen; keratoconjunctivitis (produces inflammation in both conjunctiva and superficial cornea), and uveitis (inflammation inside the eye) is among the eye infections that can result from the coxsackie virus.

What Is Athleticism?

Strength, speed, agility, endurance, coordination, and general physical fitness are all included in athleticism. It characterizes a person's aptitude for athletics and physical exercise. High athleticism athletes have attributes including strength, speed, and flexibility. Training plans aim to strengthen these elements for better sports performance. It is a general idea that works for various sports and emphasizes different physical skills.

Which Genes Are Involved in Enhancing Athletic Performance?

Many different genes are associated with athletic performance. Some of them are listed below:

The best athletic genes are ACTN3 and ACE; these are connected to strengthening and endurance and influence the fiber of muscles in the body.

• ACTN3: ACTN3 is a gene that codes for a protein called alpha-actinin-3 and is found in fast-twitch muscle fibers. It is believed that variations of this gene can affect the speed of muscle contraction, affecting how quickly an athlete can react to stimuli on the field and how quickly they can move their limbs. In other words, this gene determines how fast the muscles can use oxygen.

• Athletes with this gene tend to be sprinters because their genes make their muscles more efficient at using oxygen. This means that they can go faster for a longer period. People without this gene are more likely to be endurance athletes because their bodies need less oxygen to do the same work.

• ACE Genes: ACE genes are one of the most studied genes in sports. They have been found to have a major effect on athletic performance.

• ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) controls blood pressure and blood flow. The ACE gene is found in two forms: one with 18 extra DNA bases and the other without this insertion. The form without the insertion is called "normal," while the state with the insertion is called "mutant." People with two copies of the normal gene are considered carriers, while those with two copies of the mutant gene are considered to be affected.

• The mutation affects how people respond to physical activity by changing how their muscles use energy during exercise. This leads some people to believe that they need less oxygen as they exercise because they produce more energy internally through their muscles than others do when exercising at a similar intensity level. However, there is no evidence of this difference in energy production.

• EPOR (Erythropoietin Receptor Genes): EPOR genes are associated with the production of erythropoietin (a hormone that regulates red blood cell production). The EPOR gene is related to athletic performance.

• A study was conducted on 800 athletes from various sports and their EPOR gene types. It was found that the athletes who had two copies of the EPOR gene had a higher chance of being ranked in the top 10 % for their sport.

• Insights into Gene Doping: Doping agents were intended to improve performance, and such tactics have been used for decades. As our understanding of an organism's physiological dynamics has grown, new strategies for enhancing performance through gene manipulation are also of profound interest and research. Techniques like gene therapy enable the transfer of genetic material. However, the prospects of gene doping serve as new areas to implement applicable laws to ensure fair sport.

Conclusion:

The role of genetics in an athlete’s ability to perform is complex and not fully understood. Studies have shown that athletes with certain genetic makeups are likelier to excel in certain sports. However, it is important to remember that genetics is just one factor contributing to an athlete’s ability to perform, as the extent to which genetics influence performance is still unknown.