Foreword: the enhanced games—human enhancement, risk, and harm reduction in a post-doping era
empirical and conceptual examination rather than a priori endorsement or rejection.From a harm reduction perspective, the Enhanced Games present an unusual and potentially informative case.Harm reduction has historically been applied to illicit drug use, sexual health, and other risk-laden behaviours where abstinence-only or punitive approaches have failed to prevent use, where many individuals do not wish to stop, and where such approaches have often exacerbated harm.The application of harm reduction principles to elite sport and performance enhancement, however, remains comparatively underdeveloped and contested [5,6].This Collection seeks to situate the Enhanced Games within this broader harm reduction literature, treating them as an object of scholarly inquiry rather than a policy position to be advocated or opposed. Enhancement as a social and biomedical practiceHuman enhancement is neither a novel nor a marginal phenomenon.Across history, individuals and institutions have sought to extend physical capacity, endurance, cognition, and resilience through pharmacological, technological, surgical, nutritional, and training-based interventions [1].In contemporary contexts,
Authors
- Kyle T. Ganson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3889-3716)
- Imran Khan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9802-0429)
- Timothy Piatkowski
- Luke Cox
Institutions
- Queensland Health (AU)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Swansea University (GB)
- University of Birmingham (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Harm Reduction Journal
- Published
- 2026-04-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-026-01448-4
- Primary Topic
- Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00