How do high-endurance athletes scale mountains higher and run distances farther than the common man? Hard work, of course. But some may get help from a gene that boosts oxygen efficiency.
Hugh Montgomery, a British scientist, has discovered that endurance athletes with the best performance have a superior form of a gene that codes for angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), a protein that maximizes our cells' use of oxygen.
Every person inherits two copies, or alleles, of each gene. The ACE gene exists in either an "I" or a "D" form. Montgomery's research shows that many stellar athletes inherit either two D alleles, or an I and a D.
When Montgomery ran DNA tests on 33 mountaineers, he found that those who could ascend over 8,000 meters without extra oxygen had at least one D gene. The top climber had two. Next, the University College London Center for Cardiovascular Research lecturer tracked 78 men in a 10-week Army training program. Afterward, men with DD alleles could flex a 15-kg dumbbell for 11 times as long as those with I alleles,
