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Could Gene Tests Tell If Kids Can Be Sports Stars?

CHICAGO (AP) -- A medical journal commentary is raising questions about genetic tests that claim to detect genes for excelling in sports.

A handful of companies sell such tests online for less than $200.

Some customers say the test results help them steer their kids to appropriate sports. But skeptical doctors and ethics experts say the tests are putting profit before science. And some worry that they will be used to exclude perfectly capable kids from playing sports they enjoy.

The commentary appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association. Doctors from the University of Wisconsin and University of Michigan wrote it to alert other physicians to the tests.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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