The genetic test the International Olympic Committee (IOC) plans to use to determine eligibility for the women’s category is scientifically unreliable and should not be used for that purpose, according to the scientist who discovered the gene at the centre of the policy.
Professor Andrew Sinclair, deputy director of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, said screening athletes for the SRY gene is not a dependable method for determining biological sex. Sinclair discovered the gene in 1990 and has spent more than three decades researching gonadal development.
His comments come after the IOC announced last week that it will introduce mandatory SRY testing for all women and girls seeking to compete at the Olympics and associated events — a move that effectively bans transgender women and restricts the female category to what the IOC calls “biological females”.
Under the new rules, all female athletes competing from Los Angeles 2028 onward will be required to undergo the test. “Eligibility for the female category is to be determined in the first instance by SRY gene screening,” the IOC said, arguing that the presence of the gene is “fixed throughout life” and provides “highly accurate evidence” of male sex development.
Professor Sinclair directly challenged that claim, saying the science does not support the IOC’s interpretation. He noted that variations in sex development, differences in gene expression, and rare chromosomal conditions mean the presence or absence of SRY alone cannot definitively determine biological sex.
The IOC’s decision has already sparked global debate among athletes, scientists and human‑rights groups, with critics warning that the policy oversimplifies complex biology and risks excluding women with naturally occurring genetic variations.
+ There are no comments
Add yours