Two Premier League clubs sign up with top genetics company to learn DNA profiles of players



Two Barclays Premier League football clubs have commissioned tests of their players' DNA, with an expert predicting genetic profiling will become 'routine' in elite sport over the next few years.

It is claimed a simple swab test can determine an athlete's power and endurance capacity, whether they are particularly prone to injury and what diet best suits their genes.

British company DNAFit are already working with two top-flight English clubs as well as a 'leading' European side and Britain's former 800 metres indoor world champion Jenny Meadows, the first athlete to reveal her DNA profile.

Under the microscope: Genetic company DNAFit are able to reveal the balance of speed and endurance genes in Premier League stars like Daniel Sturridge (left)

Revealing: 36-year-old Sylvain Distin (right) is unlikely to have many injury-prone genes Perfect fit: Genetic profiling could give Arsenal and Tottenham more information on the nutritional needs of Danny Rose (left) and Tomas Rosicky (right)

The information gleaned from testing 45 gene variants could be used to adapt athletes' individual training programmes to help avoid injury and boost performance, while genetic profiling could even become part of a player's routine medical examination before a big-money transfer.

Dr Keith Grimaldi, chief scientific officer of DNAFit, admitted there is still some scepticism with regards to genetic profiling, with people making an incorrect link to gene doping, which is banned and deemed 'a threat to the integrity of sport' by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

But Dr Grimaldi added: 'There's not going to be a single gene that determine success or failure, there's no "Lionel Messi gene", but we can help people to work with the genetics they have.

'I will be very surprised if, over the next several years, it (genetic profiling) does not become absolutely routine. It should be.

'We're not promising magic but we're just hoping to reduce the risk. It's like wearing a seat belt or looking both ways before you cross the road.

Warning: Keith Grimaldi, chief scientific officer of DNAFit, says there is no 'Lionel Messi gene' to determine who has a talent for football

'Genetics have only been used before for testing for serious diseases, but we're not looking at mutations; just genetic differences - just the same as eye colour, for example.'

Profiling youth footballers could help to reduce the risk of trainees failing to win professional contracts owing to bad luck with injury. Tests of elite football teams have shown that, on average, top players have a relatively low genetic risk of injury, whereas footballers in academy sides have 'exactly the same risk' as the general public.

But Dr Grimaldi was cautious about the effectiveness of profiling children's DNA as young as 11 or 12 years old in order to stream them into particular sports or help identify talent.

He said: 'It would be no different to all the other techniques that are used to determine which sport, such as arm or leg length; things that are already visible in children. Most of the information in selecting a sport or spotting talent is there for us to see with a stopwatch or tape measure.

'In Uzbekistan, for instance, they are not using genetics to identify future champions but to know what's possible. They want to find the best way of training their children in order to see the best performance. Genetics is just providing more information.'

Looking forward: West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has shown an interest in new technology over the years

Problems: Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero (left) could benefit from the tests after suffering a number of injuries this season

Meadows' DNA profile has shown she has the correct mix of power and endurance genes to compete in her chosen event, the 800m. The tests also confirmed she has a high risk of soft-tissue injuries, something that has dogged her career.

The 32-year-old told Sportsmail she wished she had known her DNA profile '10 years earlier' so she and coach Trevor Painter could have tailored her training specifically to meet her needs, without wasting time on trial and error.

Meadows said: 'I always wanted to be sceptical and I wanted to prove the tests wrong, but it's given me a really big confidence boost because it shows we're on the right lines with my training.

'It has proved I definitely made the right decision to move up from the 400m, but I just wish I had the information 10 years earlier.'



