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| Prenatal Ultrasound Photo © Microsoft |
Hereditary breast cancer is a serious concern for men and women alike who have a strong family history of the disease, or who have had genetic testing that confirms a genetic mutation that increases the risk of developing breast cancer. A couple in Great Britain have chosen to have a "designer daughter" that is the result of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and pre-implantation diagnosis (PGD). This baby is free of the BRCA1 gene, one of many genes that can almost guarantee that the carrier will have breast cancer at some point in life.
Eleven embryos were tested at three days old by having one cell removed and screened. Only 5 out of the 11 embryos were found to be free of the BRCA1 gene. Two of these were implanted and two were frozen for later use if needed. The rest, although viable, were destroyed. This raises some discussion about the idea that science can "guarantee" better health or particular characteristics in embryos. Dr. Nancy Snyderman, medical editor for NBC News, says that this type of embryonic screening and sorting does not guarantee that a baby will never develop cancer. "I don’t think ‘guarantee’ is ever smart in medicine,” Dr. Snyderman said. Dr. Paul Serhal, the couple's doctor and medical director of the Assisted Conception Unit at University College London Hospital, said: "Women now have the option of having this treatment to avoid the potentially guilty feeling of passing on this genetic abnormality to a child. This gives us the chance to eradicate this problem in families."
The couple, in their late twenties, based their decision on the father's family history of breast cancer. The mother, who remains anonymous, said: "For the past three generations, every single woman in my husband's family has had breast cancer, as early as 27 and 29. I thought this was something I had to try because, if we had a daughter with the gene and she was ill, I couldn't look her in the face and say I didn't try."
What do you think about pre-implantation diagnosis and screening embryos for breast cancer? How do you feel about the rejected embryos? Would you consider doing this, or recommend it to others? Post your comments on this issue!
