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Article: The molecules of sport. (anabolic steroids)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- February 17, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Nothing domonstrated East Germany's indifference to the human cogs in its sports machine more than its unprecedented doping experiments on children. An estimated 1,000 to 1,500 scientists, physicians and trainers ran controlled experiments on hundreds of athletes -- some as young as 14 -- in an effort to boost athletic performance while avoiding detection.
Steroid abuse is not uncommon among Western athletes, but documents unearthed by Werner Franke, a West German molecular biologist, show that East Germany's doping scheme had a far vaster sweep. Franke and his wife, Brigitte Berendonk, sifted through dozens of doctoral these written by East German scientists ...