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Want to Know if Your Child Will Be a Great Athlete?

If you want to know if your child will be the next Alison Felix or Michael Phelps, the company A

K.C.
Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:00:01 +0000

If you want to know if your child will be the next Alison Felix or Michael Phelps, the company Atlas Sports Genetics, located in Boulder, Colorado is the place to go. Yesterday, the company launched a product which will search for the variant gene ACTN3 which is closely associated with the muscle protein alpha-actinin-3 in elite level athletes. A combination of ACTN3 that produces the protein is responsible for helping muscles contract powerfully at high speeds, which is an attribute found in sprinters.

There are three combinations of ACTN3 gene variants. A child gets one from the father and one from the mother. Children who get two copies of the X variant from both parents don't produce alpha-actinin-3, and most likely excel in endurance sports such as long distance running. Children who have one copy of the X variant and once copy of the R variant will excel at endurance power sports such as soccer. Lastly, children who obtain the two copies of the R variant produce more alpha-actinin-3 and could possible excel in power endurance sports such as football, weightlifting, and sprinting.

In order to search for the variant gene ACTN3, a saliva test is conducted, which will take about three weeks for results. While the test is a remarkable breakthrough, it is not going to serve as the sole indicator to determine if your child will excel at sports. However, compared to physical test, it's a far better indicator of a child's athletic ability before age 9. The price of the test is $149 dollars, which may be money well spent to find out if your toddler could possibly be wearing Olympic gold one day.

Via Scientific American

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