Baby Girl to be Born Without Breast Cancer Gene
Science Discovers a Gene Which Can Trigger the Disease
Jan 4, 2009
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, chose this radical course of action after 100% of her husband's female relatives had developed breast cancer. His relatives carried what is known as the BRCA 1 gene and scientists say that carriers of the gene go on to develop breast cancer in up to a staggering 85% of cases.
Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis
The couple used a technique called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), where several embryos are created using IVF and then screened to see if they have disabilities and illnesses. Only the healthy embryos are then put into the womb.
This technique has been used many times before for conditions like cystic fibrosis and other life threatening maladies, but never before for breast cancer.
In the past, girls born with the BRCA 1 gene sometimes chose to have their breasts surgically removed later in life and before any cancer set in.
Other, less drastic management includes frequent breast examinations and mammograms.
Now, through the advent of screening in IVF, would-be parents who have this family history have the option to bear a female child who does not have the breast cancer trigger gene.
The couple, whose daughter is due very soon, decided that the risks of giving birth to an affected child were too great and that since there was a way to prevent it from happening, they thought they should take the opportunity available.
Eleven Embryos
The treatment was carried out at the Assisted Conception Unit at University College Hospital in London, UK, by Mr. Paul Serhal, the Medical Director.
After an egg retrieval procedure, he took sperm from the woman's husband and created 11 embryos; of the 11, six embryos were affected with the BRCA 1 gene and the remaining five were healthy. However, due to UK laws, only two of the unaffected embryos were put into the womb. One of these was successful at implantation and has become the world's first baby girl created genetically free of breast cancer.
Controversy
However, many groups are highly skeptical of such an action, including the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority who gave the go ahead for the treatment. They say that since many woman can and do recover from breast cancer and that it is a treatable condition, any couple wishing to use PGD for this reason must undergo a review and get permission from them first.
Pro-life and religious groups such as Catholic Doctors, argue that PGD leads to the destruction (or abortion, as many see it) of countless embryos. They cite The European Society For Human Reproduction and Embryology records, which show that out of 10168 embryos fertilized, only 2% resulted in live births. (http://www.catholicdoctors.org.uk/CMQ/2004/Feb/dilemmas_in_pgd.htm) . If you believe that life starts at conception, this represents a massive loss of human life.
Disabled people's groups also object to PGD, saying that it is discrimination against disabled people, implying that they are somehow undesirable or not good enough or second class citizens. While proponents of the technique disagree, if you think about it for long enough, that is what PGD is designed to do: weed out the disabled from the able bodied and keep only those who are able, or free of disease.
A slightly less controversial choice for the London couple may have been to select a male child who would never inherit breast cancer, rather than to genetically engineer a baby without the gene. However, the public and anyone going through the pain and trauma of breast cancer can easily understand why they chose to safeguard their little girl.
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