Fewer Olympics Dopers Raises Suspicion

Gene Doping Health Risks

Although gene-transfer procedures do not have the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, scientists say the insertion of foreign genes into a patient's body through injection or inhalation can help improve performance.

Researchers say gene doping presents numerous health risks, such as leukemia and, even, death. But the anti-doping community believes athletes are eyeing it because of its ability to fly under the radar of doping tests.

In addition to the scientific hurdles associated with catching Olympic dopers, some experts say a monitoring structure that relies heavily on national anti-doping authorities also allows cheaters to evade detection.

"The Olympic testing process for performance enhancing drugs is a farce," Jamie Metzl, an executive vice president of the Asia Society, who has written extensively about international anti-doping efforts, told ABCNews.com in an e-mail. "[The process] cannot be successful because the tests are inadequate and often administered by national sports authorities with far stronger incentives to win than crack down on wrongdoers."