Direct-to-consumer genetic testing for predicting sports performance and talent identi fi cation: Consensus statement

The general consensus among sport and exercise genetics researchers is that genetic tests have no role to play in talent identi fi cation or the individualised prescription of training to maximise performance. Despite the lack of evidence, recent years have witnessed the rise of an emerging market of direct-to-consumer marketing (DTC) tests that claim to be able to identify children ’ s athletic talents. Targeted consumers include mainly coaches and parents. There is concern among the scienti fi c community that the current level of knowledge is being misrepresented for commercial purposes. There remains a lack of universally accepted guidelines and legislation for DTC testing in relation to all forms of genetic testing and not just for talent identi fi cation. There is concern over the lack of clarity of information over which speci fi c genes or variants are being tested and the almost universal lack of appropriate genetic counselling for the interpretation of the genetic data to consumers. Furthermore independent studies have identi fi ed issues relating to quality control by DTC laboratories with different results being reported from samples from the same individual. Consequently, in the current state of knowledge, no child or young athlete should be exposed to DTC genetic testing to de fi ne or alter training or for talent identi fi cation aimed at selecting gifted children or adolescents. Large scale collaborative projects, may help to develop a stronger scienti fi c foundation on these issues in the future.