The topic and discussion of most athletes' use of performance enhancing substances such as muscle builders (steroids), is becoming more challenging as biotechnologies such as gene therapy become a reality. The accessibility of these new methods for improving performance will force us to decide what we want most in sport: manifestations of physical distinctions developed through hard work or winning at all costs. For centuries, spectators and athletes have cherished the tradition of fairness in sports. While sporting competition is obviously primarily about winning, it is also about the means by which a player or team wins. Athletes who use any type of biotechnology give themselves an unfair advantage and disrupt a sense of fairness, and should be banned from competition. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Researchers are experimenting with techniques that could harness an athlete's genetic code to build stronger muscles or increase tolerance. Seeking cures for diseases like Parkinson's and muscular dystrophy, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania created "Schwarzenegger mice," rodents that grew larger than normal muscles after receiving injections with a gene that stimulates the protein growth. The researchers also found that a mix of combinations of genetic manipulation and exercise led to a 35 percent increase in the strength of the rats' leg muscles. These therapies represent a turning point for humans suffering from muscle diseases; for healthy athletes, they could mean new world records in sports involving speed and endurance, but at what cost to the integrity of athletic competition? The International Olympic Committee's World Anti-Doping Agency has become so alarmed about the possible effects of new genetic therapies that it has prompted researchers to devise a test to detect the genetic modification. Some bioethicists argue that this next wave of performance enhancement is an acceptable and inevitable feature of competition. But the effects that steroids (PEDs) have on men and women are really not worth it. Acne, gynecomastia and female facial hair are just a few of the many effects these have on men and women. As Dr. Andy Miah, who advocates for the regulated use of gene therapies in sports, says, “The idea of ​​the naturally perfect athlete is romantic nonsense. An athlete gets what they get through all sorts of means, technology, sponsorship, support and so on.” Miah, in fact, sees athletes' impending turn to genetic modification as “simply a continuation of the way sports work; it allows us to create even more extraordinary performances.” Miah's endorsement of “extraordinary performance” as a goal of competition reflects our culture's tendency to demand and reward new heights of athletic achievement. The problem is that nowadays results increasingly come from biological and high-tech interventions rather than primarily from hard work. Better equipment, such as aerodynamic bicycles and fiberglass poles for pole vaulting, have allowed athletes to record results that were unthinkable a generation ago. But the athletes themselves must put in the physical effort of training and practice, they must develop their skills even in the dark area of ​​legal and illegal drug use. There is a difference between the use of equipment and medications.