Innovation

Polo Officials Ban Genetically Enhanced Ponies To Save 'the Magic of Breeding'

(Don't) hold your genetically enhanced horses.

Ronald Bailey | From the May 2026 issue

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(Illustration: Joanna Andreasson Source images: iStock)

"Gene doping represents a threat to the integrity of sport," asserts the World Anti-Doping Agency, which prohibits athletes from "the non-therapeutic use of genes, genetic elements and/or cells that have the capacity to enhance athletic performance." The agency also bans gene editing.

Even if genetic enhancements remain unjustifiably prohibited to elite human athletes, should a ban on gene doping also apply to animals that compete in sports? The International Equestrian Federation says yes. "The use on, or administration or application to, any Horse of Gene........

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