[Gene doping: current test methods and analytical challenges]

Gene doping refers to the use of gene therapeutic substances or technologies for the purpose of illicit sport performance enhancement. A wide variety of doping analytical detection methods are currently under development, ranging from PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) to high-resolution mass spectrometry to clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (CRISPR/Cas)-based detection methods. Due to the diverse approaches in gene therapy clinical research, it can be assumed that a wide variety of methods will also be needed to detect cases of gene doping. The increasing availability of unapproved gene doping-related products on the open consumer market underscores the urgent need to establish new detection methods for routine doping control analysis.