Japan halts gene research of athletes amid privacy concerns

TOKYO (Kyodo) — A Japanese national sports institution has halted its investigation into the relationship between the genes of top athletes and their performance as well as injury risk, a source familiar with the matter said Monday.

The Japan Institute of Sports Sciences launched the study in fiscal 2017, but concerns grew internally that the information could be misused, the source said, adding the research was suspended in fiscal 2022.

The institution, a division of the Japan Sport Council, made the decision, taking into account the opinions of external experts, but has not informed the more than 2,000 athletes who participated in the research about the details of the study, the source said.

An official said, “After considering whether we could fully take responsibility for the results, we decided it would be better to proceed with caution. Once we have a clearer future direction, we will report it to the athletes who cooperated.”

The research started as a “legacy” project for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, which were scheduled for 2020 but postponed by one year, with the approval of the institute’s ethics committee, according to the source.