Cancer-free baby?
 

I have very mixed opinions on this and knowing that no one can ever be "cancer-free". Just because you may not be born with a specific gene for it, doesn't mean that environment could have a factor.

http://news.aol.com/health/article/c...-london/300261

They screened the embryo genetically to see if she had a BRCA1 gene, where there is 50-50 chance to having breast cancer. She does not have the gene.

That goes to say that the embryo was a "test tube" situation. And the screen is usually used to determine the sex of the baby. Saying this is routine.

They think she won't get breast cancer, let's hope not. But it can be unlikely she would NEVER get any cancer in her lifetime. The thing is that the risk factor for cancer is AGE... So, she may not see it until she is elderly.

A woman with an unaltered BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene still carries a risk of breast cancer although less than a woman with the altered gene. A nonBRCA positive woman can also do everything "right" ie never drink alcohol, never smoke, never take hormones such as birth control pills or estrogen-based meds, maintain a low BMI, have her kids in her 20s, live in a nonpolluted environment, etc and STILL get breast cancer even under the age of 50. There is no zero percent chance of developing breast cancer.

Not to mention that the majority of breast cancer cases are not "genetic." Most women with breast cancer have no family history of breast cancer. BRCA genes are not the only cause of breast or ovarian cancer.

From what I got reading the article, they don't say she's "cancer-free." That was from the British newspapers:

""This little girl will not face the specter of developing this genetic form of breast cancer or ovarian cancer in her adult life," said Paul Serhal, a consultant at University College London Hospital and Medical Director of the Assisted Conception Unit.'"

Another article I read about this said that the husband's mother, grandmother, and sister all had breast cancer that had linked to the gene. This isn't your average Joe who just wants a "perfect" baby.

I don't see this as being too different from Ashkenazi couples who do genetic screening to prevent Tay-Sachs.