Scientists Hail New Test Against Sport Drug Cheats

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists announced on Thursday what they believe could be a breakthrough in the constant fight against drug cheats in sport.

A new technique will enable sports officials to distinguish between synthetic and natural human steroids.

"Drug cheats should beware," said Dr. Mark Sephton of the Department of Earth, Science and Engineering at Imperial College London.

"Thanks to our technique, in the future it will be much more difficult to escape detection when using performance-enhancing steroids," he said, publishing research results in the journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry.

The new approach, developed by scientists at Imperial College and the University of Nottingham, will enable testers to analyse more easily the carbon in steroids.

In the past, carbon molecules reacted too aggressively with laboratory instruments to allow accurate analysis.

"The carbon-based secrets of steroids are now apparent to the analyst," Sephton said.