Sezione di Chimica Clinica, Università di Verona, Italy.
Br Med Bull. 2010;93:27-47. doi: 10.1093/bmb/ldp007. Epub 2009 Feb 9.
The limit of each individual to perform a given type of exercise depends on the nature of the task, and is influenced by a variety of factors, including psychology, environment and genetic make up. Genetics provide useful insights, as sport performances can be ultimately defined as a polygenic trait.
We searched PubMed using the terms 'sports' and 'genetics' over the period 1990 to present.
The physical performance phenotypes for which a genetic basis can be suspected include endurance capacity, muscle performance, physiological attitude to train and ability of tendons and ligaments to withstand injury. Genetic testing in sport would permit to identify individuals with optimal physiology and morphology, and also those with a greater capacity to respond/adapt to training and a lesser chance of suffering from injuries.
Ethical and practical caveats should be clearly emphasized. The translation of an advantageous genotype into a champion's phenotype is still influenced by environmental, psychological and sociological factors.
The current scientific evidence on the relationship between genetics and sports look promising. There is a need for additional studies to determine whether genome-wide genotyping arrays would be really useful and cost-effective. Since exercise training regulates the expression of genes encoding various enzymes in muscle and other tissues, genetic research in sports will help clarify several aspects of human biology and physiology, such as RNA and protein level regulation under specific circumstances.
个体执行特定类型运动的能力极限取决于任务的性质，并受到多种因素的影响，包括心理学、环境和遗传构成。遗传学提供了有用的见解，因为运动表现最终可以定义为多基因特征。
我们使用术语“运动”和“遗传学”在 1990 年至现在期间在 PubMed 上进行了搜索。
可以怀疑具有遗传基础的身体表现型包括耐力能力、肌肉表现、对训练的生理态度和肌腱和韧带承受损伤的能力。运动遗传学检测可以识别具有最佳生理学和形态学的个体，以及具有更大适应训练和受伤机会较小的能力的个体。
应明确强调伦理和实际的注意事项。有利基因型转化为冠军表型仍然受到环境、心理和社会因素的影响。
目前遗传学与运动之间关系的科学证据看起来很有希望。需要进一步的研究来确定全基因组基因分型阵列是否真的有用且具有成本效益。由于运动训练调节肌肉和其他组织中编码各种酶的基因的表达，运动遗传学研究将有助于阐明人类生物学和生理学的几个方面，例如在特定情况下 RNA 和蛋白质水平的调节。
