Is taking AAS a form of gene-editing? Steroids alter genes in some way since they allow people to build more muscle than what's naturally possible -- so they sort of "break" natural genetics somehow.

Given this, would this be considered a form of genetic-engineering on living humans/etc.? What about relative things like myostatin-inhibiting to prevent muscle growth cell limitation or HGH use?

In summary: does the use of AAS/performance enhancing drugs/etc. constitute gene editing? If not, why -- and if so, why and how is it comparable to things like CRISPR and stem-cell/etc. methods?


Steroids are not a form of gene editing

A gene is a sequence of DNA. Gene editing means changing this DNA sequence, kind of like changing the letters in a book.

Essentially all drugs, steroids included, affect the body without changing DNA sequence. Often they bind to a protein, which is the product of a gene, and alter its function. Steroids bind and alter the activity of transcriptiton factors, which are kind of like switches that turn certain genes on and off.

If gene editing is like rewriting a book, taking a drug would be like changing how, when, or where someone reads from the book, without altering the text itself.

If you are interested in how all of this works, you can check out some great free online courses like this: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology#intro-to-biology


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