Editorial: OMICS-Based Approaches in Sports Research.

Genomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics are increasingly generating key insights for the development of precision approaches in heath and disease. Omics technologies have unlocked the high-throughput discovery of diagnostic biomarker and the systems-level evaluation of the efficacy and toxicity of novel therapies. In the subfield of sport medicine and sport science, the application of -omics methods is relatively recent; yet, the number of peer-reviewed original research articles has seen a steady rise over the last years. Athletic performance can be affected by a combination of endogenous and exogenous factors, including genomic and metabolomic profiles, as well as diet, medicament/drug intake, training regimen, and exercise. In this respect, the application of omics approaches encompassed, for instance, the multi-parametric assessment of training efficacy, injury predisposition, and the identification of robust biomarkers for the indirect detection of potentially “invisible” forms of doping. In addition, multi-omics integration approaches in sport medicine and doping sciences hold a clear promise for better understanding of the molecular/system levels of athlete’s pathophysiology. What we believe should be indispensable to maximize the potential benefit that such approaches promise, is the promotion of cross-disciplinary and collaborative science, beyond the individual laboratories and research institutions