As brilliant white light shone off shiny lab benches and zero tolerance soundbites dropped from the lips of government ministers as they glided around a testing facility that was one part school science lab and two parts Hollywood sci-fi, it was easy to be convinced that the fight against doping was all but won.
Situated just off a roundabout on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Harlow the scale of the operation and the technology on show last week – described as the most advanced and up-to-date testing lab anywhere in the world – was undeniably impressive.
Professor David Cowan, a drugs expert at King's College who will oversee a team of more than 150 scientists, and Sir Andrew Witty, the GlaxoSmithKline chief executive who has provided the facilities as part of a sponsorship deal with London 2012 organisers, had an air of reassuring confidence. "We'll be fast, sensitive, efficient and right," vowed Cowan. The numbers back him up: 6,250 tests, results within 24 hours, 1,000 staff employed to collect sample....
Article Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/jan/24/london-2012-technology-science-drugs-cheats?newsfeed=true