Science Marches On
The Sunday Times reports:
A woman has conceived Britain’s first baby guaranteed to be free from hereditary breast cancer.Via our friend Dawn Eden, who observes: "The media portrays embryo selection as though it were a "cure" for breast cancer. It is not. It is an end to human beings who may develop breast cancer."
Doctors screened out from the woman’s embryos an inherited gene that would have left the baby with a greater than 50% chance of developing the cancer.
The woman decided to have her embryos screened because her husband had tested positive for the gene and his sister, mother, grandmother and cousin have all had the cancer.
The couple produced 11 embryos, of which five were found to be free from the gene. Two of these were implanted in the woman’s womb and she is now 14 weeks pregnant.
By screening out embryos carrying the gene, called BRCA-1, the couple, from London, will eliminate the hereditary disease from their lineage.
Labels: Babies, Suicide of the West
Presented for your delectation by the Gentleman Farmer at 11:29 AM
Comments on "Science Marches On"
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Hired Hand said ... (2:08 PM) :
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Gentleman Farmer said ... (2:36 PM) :
post a commentYou have got to be kidding me. Your friend Dawn Eden is a moron if she is angry about this.
Killing people -- even teeny, tiny people -- does tend to irritate some of us.
Once one has an embryo, there exists a particular, unique human being whose existence cannot meaningfully be distinguished from yours. There are, of course, many differences between that embryo and, for example, Stephen Hawking. But, then again, there are many differences between you and Professor Hawking. I suppose we could screen for predisposition to ALS.