'Breast cancer' embryos may be culled

Women having in-vitro fertilisation treatment may soon be able to screen out embryos carrying the genes that cause breast cancer, to reduce the risk of their children developing the disease.

Lord Winston, professor of fertility studies at the Hammersmith Hospital, London, says his team would willingly use tests for two genes which are responsible for five per cent of breast cancer cases on the embryos of women at high risk.

The tests are available now for women at risk, so they can take preventive measures against the disease, but they have not so far been used on embryos.

Lord Winston said: "If a child has a 90 per cent probability of developing the disease, because of the family history, it would be good to avoid it. There is a strong case for screening these people."

Inherited breast cancer often does not strike until a woman is in her forties or fifties and can sometimes be successfully treated. Some opponents see tests as one step closer to the production of "designer babies".

Peter Garrett, research director of the charity Life, said: "This is neo-eugenics. As scientists learn more about our genetic constitution, each embryo will have to go through an increasingly rigorous set of tests to qualify for the right to spend nine months in the womb. In five to 10 years, we are likely to have effective gene therapy for many of the conditions that Lord Winston is now testing for. In the case of breast cancer, what is wrong with a woman having 30 good years and then having a double mastectomy?

"We are the first generation that has sought to change the constitution of future generations. We should be very circumspect in the use of that power."

Lord Winston's unit already offers pre-implantation diagnosis of embryos to couples carrying the gene for cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening disease of the lungs and digestive system. His team removes one cell from each of the woman's embryos, tests it for the gene and then only re-implants embryos which are free of the defect.

The average life expectancy of an individual with cystic fibrosis, however, is only 27 or 28 years, whereas breast cancer might not strike until middle- age. A minority of those carrying the gene will not develop cancer, since the risk over a whole life-time is 85 to 90 per cent.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has asked its ethics committee to consider the issue of pre-implantation diagnosis. The committee is presenting its confidential report next month.

Mrs Ruth Deech, the authority's chairwoman, said: "We need a policy. There will be many things that we will be able to test for and there is a fear of doctors creating 'babies to order'.

"We need to find a way forward that is in tune with public thinking, but can help people who know that they are carrying an inherited disease.

"Women will not be willing to subject themselves to IVF and all that involves, unless there is a very, very strong reason to think that they are seriously at risk of an inherited disease. The more we know and the more choices we have, the more agonising it is."