Britain's first cancer-free “designer baby” born after being screened for deadly gene

The first British baby designed to be free of breast cancer has been born into an ethical storm over the moral questions surrounding "designer babies". The breakthrough gives hope to other couples that fear to have children because they are in increased danger of killer diseases. However, it will reinforce fears of future parents producing "designer babies", choosing the colour of their eyes and hair, and selecting children who will grow up to be top of the class and excel in sport.

The presence of the breast cancer gene, known as BRAC1, indicates that any daughter born with the gene has a 50 to 85 percent chance of developing breast cancer. The baby was created when doctors at University College Hospital used IVF techniques to harvest 11 embryos. Six of these were found to contain the BRCA1 gene, and discarded. Three others were discarded for other abnormalitites. The remaining two were implanted in the womb, one of which led to pregnancy. The embryos were not selected according to gender, so it is a coincidence the baby was a girl, doctors said. The baby girl was delivered normally and Paul Serhal, medical director of the hospital's assisted conception unit, said: "The baby is healthy and well. This little girl with not face the spectre of developing this genetic form of breast cancer or ovarian cancer in her adult life."

Source: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,24895972-5007190,00.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1110244/Britains-cancer-free-designer-baby-born-screened-deadly-gene.html