Footballers at a Premier League team have had their DNA analysed so that their manager can discover how injury-prone they are, according to reports.



Using swabs taken from the players' mouths last year, scientists built up a profile of 100 genes which play a key role in athletic performance and the likelihood of suffering injuries.

Officials at the club requested the tests after a breakthrough by British researchers shed new light on genetic variations which influence the chance of rupturing tendons.

Genetic profiles could help managers reduce their players' chance of getting injured, for example through better-informed training schedules and squad selection.

But there are fears the information could also be used to identify and freeze out the most injury-prone players, it was reported.
Marios Kambouris, the Yale University geneticist who conducted the tests, said he was told neither the identity of the players nor the club.


He told the Sunday Times: "I have no idea which players they were but there were good genes in there, things which would positively affect their performance, such as their ability to have better aerobic respiration, which would give them more stamina on the pitch."
DNA from the swabs was applied to a testing device called a biochip, which contained all the mutant genes the researchers were hoping to identify.
Genes from the players carrying the same variations joined themselves to those already on the chip, and by scanning them with a laser beam the scientists were able to read their genetic code and calculate how injury-prone they were.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8829894/Premier-League-team-reads-players-DNA.html

:vagi:

can't wait to see result on arsenal players

Breaking news: Xavi deceived as tests prove Cesc does not, in fact, have Barca DNA. More at 5.

Making a DNA thread in gen section and expecting it not to be full of Xavi decieved comments and Barca DNA

I am not liking where this is going to, I mean it is perfectly fine if it stops at just testing the players and knowing who is most likely to get hit by an injury and all, but if it starts getting to the direction of modifying genes and all then....

RVP has arsenal DNA + Dutch DNA. No wonder he's always injured.