WADA uncovers next designer steroid

By Mark Zalewski

The World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) announced yesterday that a new "designer steroid" has been discovered. The drug, desoxy-methyl-testosterone (DMT), was seized by Canadian customs officials at a U.S. border crossing this past summer after WADA received an anonymous e-mail tip.

WADA's science director Olivier Rabin said in a media teleconference on Tuesday that the agency believes this drug was created specifically for athletes. "We believe this was developed for the sole purpose of doping in sport," Rabin said. "We now have proof that there are other designer drugs."

This is the second designer steroid discovered by WADA, with THG creating many headlines worldwide in recent months, including the BALCO scandal in the U.S. DMT is believed to have comparable effects to testosterone, including increased strength, muscle mass and stamina.

Rabin cited the lessons learned from the THG incident as reason for the quick discovery of the new drug. "In this case we are ahead of the dopers. This shows to the dopers how serious we are."

WADA officials also said that thousands of urine samples have been retested for the new drug, but have found no traces of DMT. WADA is confident that the drug has not been used in sport since the drug contains markers of already detectable steroids.