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09/01/2009
First Breast Cancer Gene-Free Baby Born
The first British baby genetically-selected to be free of the breast cancer gene, has been born.
Doctors at University College London said the girl and her mother were doing "very well".
The baby grew from an embryo screened to ensure it did not contain the faulty BRCA 1 gene, which passes cancer down generations. Any daughter born with the gene has a 50% to 85% chance of developing breast cancer.
Women in three generations of the husband's family have been diagnosed with the disease in their 20s.
Paul Serhal, Medical Director of the hospital's Assisted Conception Unit, said: "This little girl will not face the spectre of developing this genetic form of breast cancer or ovarian cancer in her adult life.
"The parents will have been spared the risk of inflicting this disease on their daughter. The lasting legacy is the eradication of the transmission of this form of cancer that has blighted these families for generations."
In June, the 27-year-old mother-to-be, who wishes to remain anonymous, opted for screening. Her 28-year-old husband is a carrier.
She said: "We felt that, if there was a possibility of eliminating this for our children, then that was a route we had to go down."
The technique, which is known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) involves taking a cell from an embryo at the eight-cell stage of development, when it is around three-days old, and testing it.
It has already been used in the UK to free babies of inherited disorders like cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease.
(JM/BMcC)
Doctors at University College London said the girl and her mother were doing "very well".
The baby grew from an embryo screened to ensure it did not contain the faulty BRCA 1 gene, which passes cancer down generations. Any daughter born with the gene has a 50% to 85% chance of developing breast cancer.
Women in three generations of the husband's family have been diagnosed with the disease in their 20s.
Paul Serhal, Medical Director of the hospital's Assisted Conception Unit, said: "This little girl will not face the spectre of developing this genetic form of breast cancer or ovarian cancer in her adult life.
"The parents will have been spared the risk of inflicting this disease on their daughter. The lasting legacy is the eradication of the transmission of this form of cancer that has blighted these families for generations."
In June, the 27-year-old mother-to-be, who wishes to remain anonymous, opted for screening. Her 28-year-old husband is a carrier.
She said: "We felt that, if there was a possibility of eliminating this for our children, then that was a route we had to go down."
The technique, which is known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) involves taking a cell from an embryo at the eight-cell stage of development, when it is around three-days old, and testing it.
It has already been used in the UK to free babies of inherited disorders like cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease.
(JM/BMcC)
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