Comments on Genetic Future: The gene for Jamaican sprinting success? No, not r...

Certainly leg length and perhaps arm length (as th...

2009-10-19T14:45:52.699+11:00

Certainly leg length and perhaps arm length (as they swing and contribute heavily to running as well) would have an effect on a sprinter's speed. Phenotypic differences between Asian athletes and African athletes (eg arm and leg length) could significantly contribute to a difference in effectiveness of ACTN 3, right?. Further, differences in the ratio of limb length could be more important than absolute length, right? Wouldn't it be worth it to look for an association between ACTN 3, relevant phenotypic variance, and sprinting prowess?

Nice post. I'm currently doing some research into ...

2009-03-25T05:37:00.000+11:00

Nice post. I'm currently doing some research into this topic, i was wondering if you or anyone else for that matter knew of other genes that seem to have effects on sprinting capabilty, other than the different combinations of the ACNT3 gene. Also what other factors in West African + Jamican athletes lifestyles could possibly effect their make up.

tom

Nice post. I'm currently doing some research into ...

2009-03-25T05:26:00.000+11:00

Hi Ross,

A good question - the data on this...

2008-08-24T19:44:00.000+10:00

Hi Ross,

A good question - the data on this is actually pretty confusing. In non-athletes, one study suggests R/R and R/X are roughly equivalent, while another study suggests R/X is intermediate. Our early athlete results suggested that there wasn't much of a difference between R/R and R/X in terms of elite sprint athlete status, but that may have resulted from low statistical power. We currently don't have enough data from our knockout mouse heterozygotes to say much about them for sure.

However, your question has prompted me to pull together the numbers from all of the more recent athlete studies, and there does now appear to be a substantial skew towards an excess of R/R homozygotes overall (50% in elite sprint/power athletes vs 30% in controls), which is significant. So my first point is weaker than I thought, although I think the remaining arguments still stand.

In any case, Anne's point above makes this somewhat redundant: if ACTN3 homozygote number was the sole determining factor, China should be fielding about 150 times as many elite track sprinters as Jamaica (being conservative to allow for differences in demographics between the two countries, i.e. a lower proportion of 20-25 year-olds in China). Similarly, Kenya should have around 12 times as many sprinting medals as Jamaica. This clearly isn't the case!

It's also worth pointing out that unless those sta...

2008-08-24T03:22:00.000+10:00

It's also worth pointing out that unless those statistics are concealing some kind of bizarre anomaly, the population of even homozygotes in, say, China is much larger than the population of homozygotes in Jamaica - they just plain have more people. If having the gene were all it took to win, China would be way ahead.

Hi Daniel

Very interesting piece, thanks fo...

2008-08-23T15:38:00.000+10:00

Hi Daniel

Very interesting piece, thanks for sharing an insider's perspective. I have a question about your first point on "Does the ACTN3 gene explain Jamaican sprinting prowess." You suggest that having one copy of the 577R allele is as good as having two copies.

So the double-X is only "reliably" associated with reduced sprint... ignoring stats for a moment, do studies tend to find that sprint performance shows a trend of being midway between the double-R and double-X runners? Biologically speaking, it seems with knockout mice sometimes having one copy of a gene is just as good as having two, and sometimes its not. Is there any biochemical evidence for similarities of ACTN3 heterozygotes vs homozygotes?

Ross

g,

Bolt and his team-mates are being
2008-08-22T15:59:00.000+10:00
g,

Bolt and his team-mates are being extensively tested for that gene. :-)

Hi Marc,

That's a topic that tends to derai...

2008-08-22T15:55:00.000+10:00

Hi Marc,

That's a topic that tends to derail discussions entirely - so it's probably a conversation for another time and place (such as, say, GNXP).

Wonder if anyone thinks Bolt has the gene for Ben ...

2008-08-22T14:28:00.000+10:00

Wonder if anyone thinks Bolt has the gene for Ben Johnson 9.79, which transcribes to 'how can anyone clean beat the time of a guy doped to the gills in the 88 Seoul Olympics?'

:-)

I'm certainly not arguing here that genetics do...

2008-08-22T01:00:00.000+10:00
I'm certainly not arguing here that genetics doesn't play any role in Bolt's success - or in the remarkable over-representation of West African descendents in Olympic short-distance track events, or the similarly impressive skew towards East Africans among marathon runners. In fact I think most geneticists would be staggered if this was the case, even though direct evidence for underlying genes is currently very thin on the ground.

So - and I know this is off-topic, but I'm researching this sort of thing and I'm genuinely curious - is intelligence a less heritable trait than athletic ability? Because it seems to me that most geneticists *would* be "staggered" at the idea that the "remarkable over-representation" of Jews among Nobel prize winners or the "similarly impressive skew" toward East Asians among elite University students might have a genetic basis, "even though direct evidence for underlying genes is currently very thin on the ground." I followed the James Watson controversy and he got hammered by most scientists for suggesting there were innate differences in intellectual ability, on average, among different population groups. Were these reactions based in science (i.e., there are differences in the degree to which intellectual and athletic ability are inherited) or morality (i.e., you can talk about broad differences in athleticism, but not intelligence, because perceived differences in intelligence has led people to try to justify all sorts of historical horrors?)

Thanks for a nice article.

2008-08-21T22:03:00.000+10:00
Thanks for a nice article.

Well said. I especially like the simple metaphor t...

2008-08-21T07:48:00.000+10:00
Well said. I especially like the simple metaphor that "Olympic sprinters, essentially, are those unlikely individuals at the vanishing edge of the probability distribution for whom nearly every genetic coin has come up heads."

Jamaican gene?
Please read article by Colin Cha...

2008-08-21T05:28:00.000+10:00
Jamaican gene?
Please read article by Colin Channer
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121823832648825809.html?mod=Sports90_5

Daniel,
So now I hope you feel the same way I d...

2008-08-21T05:02:00.000+10:00
Daniel,
So now I hope you feel the same way I do when they talk about a new heart attack gene.......Or a marketing effort is made by some DTC company to promote things like FGFR2 testing!

-Steve
www.thegenesherpa.blogspot.com

Comments on Genetic Future: The gene for Jamaican sprinting success? No, not r...

Certainly leg length and perhaps arm length (as th...

Nice post. I'm currently doing some research into ...

Nice post. I'm currently doing some research into ...

Hi Ross,A good question - the data on this...

It's also worth pointing out that unless those sta...

Hi DanielVery interesting piece, thanks fo...

g,Bolt and his team-mates are being 2008-08-22T15:59:00.000+10:00 g,Bolt and his team-mates are being extensively tested for that gene. :-)

Hi Marc,That's a topic that tends to derai...

Wonder if anyone thinks Bolt has the gene for Ben ...

I'm certainly not arguing here that genetics do...

Thanks for a nice article.

Well said. I especially like the simple metaphor t...

Jamaican gene?Please read article by Colin Cha...

Daniel,So now I hope you feel the same way I d...

Hi Ross,

A good question - the data on this...

Hi Daniel

Very interesting piece, thanks fo...

g,

Bolt and his team-mates are being
2008-08-22T15:59:00.000+10:00
g,

Bolt and his team-mates are being extensively tested for that gene. :-)

Hi Marc,

That's a topic that tends to derai...

Jamaican gene?
Please read article by Colin Cha...

Daniel,
So now I hope you feel the same way I d...